Systems and methods for audio asset storage and management

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing audio asset information using an audio asset information storage system are provided. The storage system includes a data store containing video program information associated with a video program that embeds the known audio asset. The storage system receives a number of requests to identify the known audio asset and stores an indication of each request within the data store. The storage system provides at least a portion of audio asset information associated with the known audio asset to user equipment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/570,110, filed Sep. 30, 2009, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to interactive media guidanceapplications, and more particularly, to systems and methods for managingand identifying audio content using an interactive media guidanceapplication.

With the increasing use of interactive program guides and other mediaguidance applications, advanced media guidance application support formedia content other than traditional television programming is becomingmore important. Specifically, media guidance features directed towardthe management of audio content is becoming highly desirable. At thesame time, a convergence of media storage systems is driving the needfor media guidance applications to manage and exploit the relationshipsbetween different kinds of media content, such as between video andaudio.

In conventional interactive television application systems, there is noconvenient method for retrieving information about an audio assetembedded within a video program. In particular, there may be times whena user desires to view information identifying an audio asset whileviewing a video program. For example, a user may hear a song played in avideo program and wish to identify or purchase the song.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a systematic approach formanaging and identifying audio content within a media guidanceapplication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, systems and methods for managing andidentifying video embedded audio content using an interactive mediaguidance application are provided.

In one approach, an audio asset information storage system includes adata store containing audio asset information associated with a knownaudio asset. The audio asset information includes video programinformation associated with a video program that embeds the known audioasset. The audio asset information storage system also includes aprocessor capable of i) receiving a number of requests to identify theknown audio asset, ii) storing an indication of each request within thedata store, and iii) providing at least a portion of the audio assetinformation associated with the known audio asset to user equipment.

That audio asset information may include an audio asset signature,identifier, title, artist, album, album art, genre, type, lyrics, and/orplay time. The video program information may include a program title,genre, type, episode, series, broadcast schedule, audio asset location,audio asset start time, audio asset end time, audio asset play time,song lyrics, audio text, and/or audio asset quality.

In one embodiment, the data store is located remotely from the userequipment, and the storage system is further capable of i) monitoring aset of user equipment data stores, ii) identifying audio assetinformation stored in the remote data store that is not stored in theset of user equipment data stores, and iii) providing the identifiedaudio asset information to the set of user equipment data stores.

In another embodiment, at least a portion of the audio asset informationis provided in response to determining that the user equipment is set(or has previously been set) to display or record the video program thatembeds the known audio asset. Alternatively, at least a portion of theaudio asset information is provided in response to determining that auser profile at the user equipment includes audio preference datamatching characteristics of the known audio asset. The characteristicsof the known audio asset may be included in the audio asset information.As another alternative, at least a portion of the audio assetinformation is provided in response to determining that a user profileat the user equipment includes video preference data matchingcharacteristics of the video program that embeds the known audio asset.The characteristics of the video program may be included in the videoprogram information.

In an embodiment, the storage system is capable of i) receiving arequest to view all audio assets associated with a selected videoprogram, ii) searching the data store for audio assets associated withvideo program information identifying the selected video program, andiii) providing at least a portion of the audio asset informationassociated, with each of the matching audio assets to the userequipment.

In another embodiment, the storage system is capable of i) determiningthat a threshold number of requests to identify the known audio assethave been received, and ii) storing an indication of the thresholddetermination within the audio asset information associated with theknown audio asset. At least a portion of the audio asset information maybe provided in response to the threshold determination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a display screen using a grid format that may be used toprovide guidance for various types of media according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a display screen using a mosaic that may be used to provideguidance for various types of media according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a user equipment device according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a simplified diagram of an illustrative interactive mediasystem according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a diagram of a cross-platform interactive media systemaccording to an illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a display screen of an audio library interface according toan illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a display screen of a media guidance application with anaudio identify feature according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 8A shows a display screen with an overlay region including audioinformation and a purchase feature according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8B shows a display screen with an alternate audio informationand/or purchase feature according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 9 shows a system for processing audio asset identification requestsaccording to an illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing audio assetidentification requests according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing an audio sampleaccording to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing audio assetidentification requests using information from previously fulfilledaudio asset identification requests according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing audio assetidentification requests by determining an optimal audio samplinglocation according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The amount of media available to users in any given media deliverysystem may be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate through media selections and easily identify media content thatthey may desire. An application which provides such guidance is referredto herein as an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, amedia guidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the media for which, they provide guidance. One typical type of mediaguidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof media content including conventional television programming (providedvia traditional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means),as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as invideo-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming media,downloadable media, Webcasts, etc.), recorded programs, and other typesof media or video content. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content related to the video contentincluding, for example, video clips, audio assets, articles,advertisements, chat sessions, games, etc. Guidance applications alsoallow users to navigate among and locate multimedia content. The termmultimedia is defined herein as media and content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms, such as text, audio, still images,animation, video, and interactivity content forms. Multimedia contentmay be recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information contentprocessing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but mayalso be part of a live performance. It should be understood that theinvention embodiments that are described in relation to media or mediacontent are also applicable to other types of content, such as video,audio and/or multimedia.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on personal computers (PCs)and other devices on which they traditionally did not, such as hand-heldcomputers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, orother mobile devices. On these devices users are able to navigate amongand locate the same media-available through a television. Consequently,media guidance is necessary on these devices, as well. The guidanceprovided may be for media content available only through a television,for media content available only through one or more of these devices,or for media content available both through a television and one or moreof these devices. The media guidance applications may be provided ason-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or as stand-aloneapplications or clients on hand-held computers, PDAs, mobile telephones,or other mobile devices. The various devices and platforms that mayimplement media guidance applications are described in more detailbelow.

One of the functions of the media guidance, application is to providemedia listings and media information to users. FIGS. 1 and 2 showillustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance,and in particular media listings. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1and 2 may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. As definedherein, platform refers to any system that may support the operation ofan interactive media guidance application. While the displays of FIGS. 1and 2 are illustrated as full screen displays, they may also be fully orpartially overlaid over media content being displayed. A user mayindicate a desire to access media information by selecting a selectableoption provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listingsoption, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button(e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user, inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media informationorganized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in a grid,by time, by channel, by media type, by category (e.g., movies, sports,news, children, or other categories of programming), or otherpredefined, user-defined, or other organization criteria.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid program listings, display 100 arranged bytime and channel that also enables access to different types of mediacontent in a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with: (1)a column of channel/media type identifiers 104, where each channel/mediatype identifier, (which is a cell in the column) identifies a differentchannel or media type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers 106,where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies atime block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of programlistings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides thetitle of the program provided on the listing's associated channel andtime. With a user, input device, a user may select program listings bymoving highlight region 110. Information relating to the program listingselected by highlight region 110 may be provided in program informationregion 112. Region 112 may include, for example, the program title, theprogram description, the time the program is provided (if applicable),the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, andother desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming provided accordingto a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming which is not provided according to a schedule.Non-linear programming may include content from different media sourcesincluding on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored media content(e.g., video or audio content stored, on a digital video recorder (DVR),digital video, disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD), harddrive, or other storage device), or other time-insensitive mediacontent. On-demand content may include both movies and original mediacontent provided by a particular media provider (e.g., HBO On Demandproviding “The Sopranos” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is aservice mark owned by Time Warner Company L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOSand CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by the Home Box Office,Inc. Internet content may include web events, such as a chat session orWebcast, or content available on-demand as streaming media ordownloadable media through an Internet web site or other Internet access(e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide listings for non-linear programming includingon-demand listing 114, recorded media listing 116, and Internet contentlisting 118. A display combining listings for content from differenttypes of media sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media”display. The various permutations of the types of listings that may bedisplayed that are different than display 100 may be based on userselection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display of onlyrecorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and broadcast listings,etc.). As illustrated, listings 114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanningthe entire time block displayed in grid 102 to indicate that selectionof these listings may provide access to a display dedicated to on-demandlistings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. Inother embodiments, listings for these media types may be included,directly in grid 102. Additional listings may be displayed in responseto the user selecting one of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing anarrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similarmanner as selecting navigational icons 120).

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the presentinvention.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for media content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the media listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be an advertisement for productsor services related or unrelated to the media content displayed in grid102. Advertisement 124 may be selectable and provide further informationabout media content, provide information about a product or a service,enable purchasing of media content, a product, or a service, providemedia content relating to the advertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 maybe targeted based on a user's profile/preferences, monitored useractivity, the type of display provided, or on other suitable, targetedadvertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over media content or aguidance application display screen or embedded within a display screen.Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, videoclips, or other types of media content. Advertisements may be stored inthe user equipment with the guidance application, in a databaseconnected to the user equipment, in a remote location (includingstreaming media servers), or on other storage means or a combination ofthese locations. Providing advertisements in a media guidanceapplication is discussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson etal., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/347,673, filed Jan. 17, 2003,Ward, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004, andSchein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the present invention.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types of mediacontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. For example, selectable option 128 may allow theuser to access an audio library, which is described in greater detailbelow in connection with FIG. 6. Options region 126 may be part ofdisplay 100 (and other display screens of the present invention), or maybe invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing adedicated or assignable button on a user input device. The selectableoptions within options region 126 may concern features related toprogram listings in grid 102 or may include options available from amain menu display. Features related to program listings may includesearching for other air times or ways of receiving a program, recordinga program, enabling series recording of a program, setting programand/or channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, identifying audioassets embedded in a program, configuring audio identification settings,or other features. Options available from a main menu display mayinclude search options, VOD options, parental control options, audioidentification options, access to various types of listing displays,subscribe to a premium service, edit a user's profile, access a browseoverlay, access an audio library, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile, which may be customizedfor each user who will be interacting with the media guidanceapplication. The customizations may include varying presentation schemes(e.g., color scheme of displays, font size of text, etc.), aspects ofmedia content listings displayed (e.g., only HDTV programming,user-specified broadcast channels based on favorite channel selections,re-ordering the display of channels, recommended media content, etc.),desired recording features (e.g., recording or series recordings forparticular users, recording quality, etc.), parental control settings,and other desired customizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the media the useraccesses and/or other interactions the user may have with the mediaguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.tvguide.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from a handheld device of the user, etc.), and/or obtaininformation about the user from other sources that the media guidanceapplication may access. As a result, a user may be provided with aunified guidance application experience across the user's differentdevices. This type of user experience is described in greater detailbelow in connection with FIG. 5. Additional personalized media guidanceapplication features are described in greater detail in Ellis et al.,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyeret al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/437,304, filed Nov. 9, 1999,and Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/105,128, filedFeb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein intheir entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 formedia content information organized based on media type, genre, and/orother organization criteria. In display 200, television listings option204 is selected, thus providing listings 206, 208, 210, and 212 asbroadcast program listings. Unlike the listings from FIG. 1, thelistings in display 200 are not limited to simple text (e.g., theprogram title) and icons to describe media. Rather, in display 200 thelistings may provide graphical images including cover art, still imagesfrom the media content, video clip previews, live video from the mediacontent, or other types of media that indicate to a user the mediacontent being described by the listing. Each of the graphical listingsmay also be accompanied by text to provide further information about themedia content associated with the listing. For example, listing 208 mayinclude more than one region, including media region 214 and text region216. Media region 214 and/or text region 216 may be selectable to viewvideo in full-screen or to view program listings related to the videodisplayed in media region 214 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 islarger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the media provider or basedon user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating media listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/324,202, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access media content and the media guidance application (andits display screens described above and below) from one or more oftheir, user equipment, devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 5.User equipment device 300 may receive media content, and data viainput/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may providemedia content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming,Internet content, and other video or audio) and data to controlcircuitry 304, which includes processing circuitry 306 and storage 308.Control circuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands,requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 302. I/O path 302 mayconnect control circuitry 304 (and specifically processing circuitry306) to one or more communications paths (described below). I/Ofunctions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry306 such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices,etc. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executes instructionsfor a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage 308).In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. Communicationscircuitry may include a cable modem, an integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephonemodem, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment. Suchcommunications may involve the Internet or any other suitablecommunications networks or paths (which is described in more detail inconnection with FIG. 5). In addition, communications circuitry mayinclude circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of userequipment devices, or communication of user equipment devices inlocations remote from each other (described in more detail below).

Memory (e.g., random-access memory, read-only memory, or any othersuitable memory), hard drives, optical drives, or any other suitablefixed or removable storage devices (e.g., DVD recorder, CD recorder,video cassette recorder, or other suitable recording device) may beprovided as storage 308 that is part of control circuitry 304. Storage308 may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. Forexample, user equipment device 300 may include a hard drive for a DVR(sometimes called a personal video recorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorderas a secondary storage device.

Storage 308 may be used to store various types of media described hereinand guidance application data, including program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences or profile information, or otherdata used in operating the guidance application. Nonvolatile memory mayalso be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions).

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include audio processing and extractioncircuitry, which is discussed in greater detail below in connection withFIG. 9. Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry forupconverting and downconverting media in to the preferred output formatof the user equipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also includedigital-to-analog converter circuitry and analog-to-digital convertercircuitry for converting between digital and analog signals. The tuningand encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment to receive andto display, to play, or to record media content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, scaler, audio processing, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may control the control circuitry 304 using user input interface310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable user interface, suchas a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen,touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface,microphone, auxiliary line input, or other user input interfaces.Display 312 may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated withother elements of user equipment device 300. Display 312 may be one ormore of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for amobile device, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visualimages. In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable.

Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos, stored or streaming audio content, and other media contentdisplayed on display 312 may be played through speakers 314. In someembodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown),which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 314. As used herein,speakers 314 are illustrative of, and may represent, any type of audiooutput device (e.g., headphones, a wireless headset, an audio outputauxiliary port, etc.).

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally, and data for use bythe application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from the VBI ofa television channel, from an out-of-band feed, or using anothersuitable approach). In another embodiment, the media guidanceapplication is a client-server based application. Data for use by athick or thin client implemented on user equipment device 300 isretrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the userequipment device 300. In one example of a client-server based guidanceapplication, control circuitry 304 runs a web browser that interpretsweb pages provided by a remote server.

In yet other embodiments, the media guidance application is downloadedand interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine(run by control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidanceapplication may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF),received by control circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, andinterpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry 304. Forexample, the guidance application may be a EBIF widget. In otherembodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series ofJAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine orother suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some ofsuch embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

Referring now to FIG. 4, illustrative user equipment device 400 is shownin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Userequipment device 400 is a more detailed, yet still simplified, view ofuser equipment device 300 of FIG. 3. In addition to the features andfunctionalities described below, user equipment device 400 may includeany of the components, features, and functionalities described above inconnection with FIG. 3. Control circuitry 414 of user equipment device400 may include processing circuitry 404, schedule information datastore 408, advertising data store 410, and audio data store 412. Datastores 408, 410, and 412 may each be one or more relational databases orany other suitable storage mechanisms. Although data stores 408, 410,and 412 are shown as separate data stores, one or more of these datastores may instead be combined into a single storage system. Althoughonly data stores 408, 410, and 412 are shown in FIG. 4, it will beunderstood that there may be any suitable number of data stores.

Schedule information data store 408 may store media guidance data for amedia guidance application. Schedule information data store 408 maystore media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, media titles, media descriptions, ratings information (e.g.,parental control ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or categoryinformation, actor information, logo data for broadcasters' orproviders' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, highdefinition, etc.), on-demand information, or any other suitableinformation. The schedule information included in schedule informationdata store 408 may be used by the media guidance application to providea program guide display (e.g., display screens 100 and 200 of FIGS. 1and 2, respectively) on display 406, or to provide any other suitablemedia guidance display.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4, advertising data store 410 maystore advertising content for display in a media guidance application.Advertising data store 410 may store advertising content in variousforms, including text, graphics, images, video clips, content of anyother suitable type, or references to remotely stored content. Datastore 410 may also store links or identifiers to advertising content inother data stores. In some embodiments, data store 410 may store indexesfor advertising content in other local data stores (e.g., data store,408 or 412), or may store identifiers to remote storage systems, such asURLs, to advertisements provided by web servers. Data store 410 may alsostore identifying information about each advertisement or advertisementelement (e.g., associated advertiser, type of promotional, length ofpromotion, a television show, product, or service the advertisement ispromoting, etc.), or may store indexes to locations in other local orremote storage systems where this information may be found.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4, audio data store 412 may storeaudio assets or information related to audio assets accessible through amedia guidance, application. Audio assets, as used herein, refers to anytype of audio content including songs, dialogue, narration, backgroundmusic, sound effects, etc. The audio assets may be distinct analog ordigital objects (e.g., digital files) or may be embedded within othermedia or signals. In particular, an audio asset may be embedded in avideo program, for example, as part of an audio track. A video program,or other media content, may embed or be associated with one or moreaudio tracks or audio signals. The audio tracks or audio signals may, inturn, contain one or more audio assets. Moreover, an audio asset itselfmay include a number of other audio assets. For example, a song mayinclude voice-over narration and background music, each of which areaudio assets in their own right. User or system requests to identify anaudio asset (described below) may therefore result in the identificationof multiple audio assets. For example, a user request to identify a songincluding voice-over narration, and background music may result inidentification of the song, the voice-over narration, and/or thebackground music.

Audio data store 412 may store audio assets or information about audioassets locally recorded or extracted (e.g., audio assets recorded usinga DVR, CD recorder, DVD recorder, etc. or extracted from a CD, DVD, avideo program, etc.) or available remotely (e.g., audio assets stored ona remote server and available through download, streaming, etc.). Audiodata store 412 may also store audio assets or information about audioassets embedded within video content (e.g., audio assets embedded withina television program, a locally stored or remotely available videoprogram, etc.). The contents of audio data store 412 may include audioassets such as songs, dialogue, narration, background music, etc., ormetadata associated with such audio content. In addition, audio datastore 412 may include information related to audio assets includingtext, graphics, images, video clips, content of any other suitable type,or references to remotely stored content. Audio data store 412 may alsostore links or identifiers to media content in other data stores. Insome embodiments, audio data store 412 may store indexes for mediacontent in other local data stores (e.g., data store 408 or 410), or maystore identifiers to remote storage systems, such as URLs to mediaprovided by web servers.

Audio data store 412 may also store identifying information associatedwith audio assets. For example, audio data store 412 may include thetype, format, title, artist, composer, producer, author, description,genre, category, album, cover art, production, dates, or otheridentifying information associated with the audio assets. As anotherexample, audio data store 412 may include information related to atelevision program, logo, advertiser, advertisement, product, or servicewith which the audio is associated, or any other suitable information.Audio data store 412 may also (or alternatively) store indexes tolocations, in other local or remote storage systems where thisinformation may be found.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4, processing circuitry 404, which mayhave any of the features and functionalities of processing circuitry 306(FIG. 3), may access any of the information included in data stores 408,410 and 412. Processing circuitry 404 may use this information toselect, prepare, and display information on display 406. In particular,processing circuitry 404 may use information obtained from these datastores to provide a media guidance application with advertisements to auser of user equipment 400. For example, processing circuitry 404 mayuse this information to display audio library display screen 600 of FIG.6. Processing circuitry 404 may also use the information included indata stores 408, 410, ad 412 to select, prepare, and output audio tospeakers 314 of FIG. 3. In addition, processing circuitry 404 may updateinformation in data stores 408, 410 and 412 with data received from, orexample, communications link 402. Communications link 402 may have anyof the features and functionalities of communications links 508, 510,and 512 of FIG. 5, discussed in greater detail below. In someembodiments, processing circuitry 404 may update schedule, informationin data store 408 with new or updated information, may add, remove, orchange any advertising content in data store 410, and may add, remove,or change audio content or information associated with audio content indata store 412 or any other suitable data store. Processing circuitry404 may additionally update any of the associations between these datastores (e.g., between a scheduled broadcast and its associatedadvertisement, between a video program and its embedded audio assets,etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrative system 500 is shown for providingmedia guidance to different types of user equipment devices inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. User equipmentdevices 300 and 400 of FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively, may be implementedin system 500 of FIG. 5 as user television equipment 502, user computerequipment 504, wireless user communications device 506, or any othertype of user equipment suitable for accessing media, such as anon-portable gaming machine. For simplicity, these devices may bereferred to herein collectively as user equipment or user equipment,devices. User equipment devices, on which a media guidance applicationis implemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

User television equipment 502 may include a set-top box, an integratedreceiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a televisionset, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video-cassette recorder(VCR), a local media server, or other user television equipment. One ormore of these devices may be integrated to be a single device, ifdesired. User computer equipment 504 may include a PC, a laptop, atablet, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PC mediaserver, a PC media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV is atrademark owned by Microsoft. Corp. Wireless user communications device506 may include PDAs, a mobile telephone, a portable video player, aportable music player, a portable gaming machine, or other wirelessdevices.

It should be noted that with the advent of television tuner cards forPC's, WebTV, and the integration of video into other user equipmentdevices, the lines, have become blurred, when trying to classify adevice as one of the above devices. In fact, each of user televisionequipment 502, user computer equipment 504, and wireless usercommunications device 506 may utilize at least some of the systemfeatures described above in connection with FIG. 3 and, as a result,include flexibility with respect to the type of media content availableon the device. For example, user television equipment 502 may beInternet-enabled, allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 504 may include a tuner allowing for access totelevision programming. The media guidance application may also have thesame layout on the various different types of user equipment or may betailored to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For example,on user computer equipment, the guidance application may be provided asa web site accessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidanceapplication may be scaled down for wireless user communications devices.

In, system 500, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 5 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In, addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device (e.g., a user may have atelevision set and a computer) and also more than one of each type ofuser equipment device (e.g., a user may have a PDA and a mobiletelephone and/or multiple television sets).

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.tvguide.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device may changethe guidance, experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 514.Namely, user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, andwireless user communications device 506 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 514 via communications paths 508, 510, and 512, respectively.Communications network 514 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile device (e.g., Blackberry)network, cable network, public switched telephone network, or othertypes of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. BLACKBERRY is a service mark owned by Research. In MotionLimited Corp. Paths 508, 510, and 512 may separately or together includeone or more communications paths, such, as, a satellite path, afiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internetcommunications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcastor other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wirelesscommunications path or combination of such paths.

Path 512 is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplaryembodiment shown in FIG. 5 it is a wireless path and paths 508 and 510are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths (althoughthese paths may be wireless paths, if desired). Communications with theuser equipment devices may be provided by one or more of thesecommunications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 5 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 508, 510, and 512, as well other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-1x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect, path via communications network 514.

System 500 includes media content source 516, data collection server517, and media guidance data source 518 coupled to communicationsnetwork 514 via communication paths 520, 521, and 522, respectively.Paths 520, 521, and 522 may include any of the communication paths,described above in connection with paths 508, 510, and 512.Communications with the media content source 516, data collection server517, and media guidance data source 518 may be exchanged over one ormore communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 5 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more thanone of each of media content source 516, data collection server 517, andmedia guidance, data source 518, but only one of each is shown in FIG. 5to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of each ofthese sources are discussed below.) If desired, media content source516, data collection server 517, and media guidance data source 518 maybe integrated as one source device. Although communications betweensources 516, 517, and 518 with, user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506are shown as through communications network 514, in some embodiments,sources 516, 517, and 518 may communicate directly with user equipmentdevices 502, 504, and 506 via communication paths (not shown) such asthose described above in connection with paths 508, 510, and 152.

Media content source 516 may include one or more types of mediadistribution equipment including a television distribution facility,cable system-headend, satellite distribution facility, programmingsources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.),intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers,on-demand media servers, and other media content providers. NBC is atrademark owned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is atrademark owned by the ABC, INC., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Media, content source 516 may be the originator ofmedia content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.)or may not be the originator of media content (e.g., an on-demand mediacontent provider, an Internet provider of video content of broadcastprograms for downloading, etc.). Media content source 516 may includecable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internetproviders, or other providers of media content. Media content source 516may also include a remote media server used to store different types ofmedia content (including video content selected by a user), in alocation remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of media content, and providing remotelystored media content to user equipment are discussed in greater detailin connection with Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Data collection server 517 may receive data from user equipment devices502, 504, and 506. This data may include data sent to media contentsource 516 or media guidance data source 518. The data may also includerequests or queries initiated from user equipment (e.g., devices 502,504, and 506) and responses to requests or queries initiated from serverequipment (e.g., sources 516, 517, and 518). In addition, datacollection server 517 may receive monitoring data gathered by a mediaguidance application implemented on user equipment devices 502, 504, and506. For example, user interaction with the media guidance applicationmay be monitored, compiled into a data set, and sent to data collectionserver 517. Monitoring data may include user viewing habits (e.g., whichprograms a user views or records, and when the user views or records theprograms), user interaction with advertisements (e.g., whichadvertisements a user selects, and when a user selects theadvertisement), user purchasing habits (e.g., what types of products orservices a user orders, and when the orders are placed), user audiopreferences (e.g., what audio content or what types of audio content auser records, purchases, or selects for identification), and othersuitable information. Monitoring using interactions in a media guidanceapplication is discussed in more detail in Alexander et al. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/120,488, filed Jul. 21, 1998, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Data collection server 517 may collect and correlate data received frommultiple users to determine commonalties between users, prevalentbehavior patterns, and popular features, queries, and preferences. Forexample, data collection server 517 may compile the audio preferences ofa number of users to determine the most popular artists, genres, songs,etc. As another example, data collection server 517 may compilemonitoring data of user interaction with the media guidance applicationto determine the most frequently accessed features, options, and displayscreens. In addition, data collection server 517 may compile monitoringdata to determine the most effective advertisements and advertisementplacement (e.g., location and timing). Data collection server 517 mayuse these determinations and other analyses of user generated data toprovide updated features and new services to other users. For example,based on a determination of popular video programs, data collectionserver 517, or sources 516 or 518, may provide advertisements or alertsto other users about future broadcasts or delivery options for thepopular programs. As another example, the media guidance application maycollect information on audio asset identification requests from aplurality of users, determine audio assets that are frequently thesubject of such requests, and provide audio asset information to otherusers automatically. Audio asset identification, requests for audio,asset identification, and automatic transmission of audio assetinformation are all described in further detail below.

Media guidance data source 518 may provide media guidance data, such asmedia listings, media related information (e.g., broadcast times,broadcast channels, media titles, media descriptions, ratingsinformation (e.g., parental, control ratings, critic's ratings, etc.),genre or category information, actor information, logo data forbroadcasters or providers' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standarddefinition, high definition, etc.), advertisement information (e.g.,text, images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, and any othertype of guidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among andlocate desired media selections.

Media guidance data source 518 may additionally provide advertisementinformation (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.) to the userequipment devices. The advertisement information may include anyadvertisements used by the media guidance application to provideadvertisements to a user. The advertising information provided to theuser devices may have originated from any suitable source, which may ormay not be media guidance data source 518. In some embodiments, theadvertising information may have originated from various differentadvertisers or program sponsors, and may have originated from mediacontent source 516 of data collection server 517.

Media guidance application data, including advertisement information andaudio asset information, may be provided to the user equipment devicesusing any suitable approach or combination of approaches. In someembodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-alone interactivetelevision program guide that receives program guide data via a datafeed (e.g., a continuous feed, trickle feed, or, data in the verticalblanking interval of a channel). Program schedule data and otherguidance data, such as advertising, information or audio assetinformation, may be provided to the user equipment on a televisionchannel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of a televisionchannel, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digitalsignal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique. Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to user equipmenton multiple analog or digital television channels. Program schedule dataand other guidance data may be provided to the user equipment with anysuitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user specified periodof time, a system-specified period of time, in response to a requestfrom user equipment, etc.). In some approaches, guidance data from mediacontent source 516, data collection server 517, or media guidance datasource 518 may be provided to users' equipment using a client-serverapproach. For example, a guidance application client residing on theuser's equipment may initiate sessions with source 518 to obtainguidance data when needed. Media guidance data source 518 may provideuser equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 the media guidance applicationitself or software updates for the media guidance application.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. In otherembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only the client resides on the user equipment device.For example, media guidance applications may be implemented partially asa client application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device300 (FIG. 3) and partially on a remote server as a server application(e.g., media guidance data source 518). The guidance applicationdisplays may be generated by media content source 516, data collectionserver 517, media guidance data source 518, or a combination of thesesources and, transmitted to the user equipment devices.

Sources 516, 517, and 518 may also transmit data for storage on the userequipment, which then generates the guidance application displays basedon instructions processed by control circuitry.

Referring again to FIG. 5, media guidance system 500 is intended toillustrate a number of approaches, or network configurations, by whichuser equipment devices and sources of media content and guidance datamay communicate with each other for the purpose of accessing media andproviding media guidance. The present invention may be applied in anyone or a subset of these approaches, or in a system employing otherapproaches for delivering media and providing media guidance. Thefollowing three approaches provide specific illustrations of thegeneralized example of FIG. 5.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices may communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribe above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar deviceprovided on a home network, or via communications network 514. Each ofthe multiple individuals in a single home may operate different userequipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirablefor various media guidance information or settings to be communicatedbetween the different user equipment devices. For example, it may bedesirable for users to maintain consistent media guidance applicationsettings on different user equipment devices within a home network, asdescribed in greater detail in Ellis et al, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types of user equipmentdevices, in a home network may also communicate with each other totransmit media content. For example, a user may transmit media contentfrom user computer equipment to a portable video player or portablemusic player.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access media, content and obtain media guidance. For example,some users may have home networks that are accessed by in-home mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Various,systems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/927,814, filed Aug. 26, 2004, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home may use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith media content source 516 to access media, content.

Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment 504 anduser computer equipment 506 may access the media guidance application tonavigate among and locate desirable media content. Users may also accessthe media guidance application outside of the home using wireless usercommunications devices 506 to navigate among and locate desirable mediacontent.

Referring to FIG. 6, an audio library display screen 600 is provided inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Audio librarydisplay screen, 600 is displayed when the user accesses a list of audioassets, for example, by selecting selectable option 128 of optionsregion 126 (FIG. 1) or a dedicated button on a remote control. Audioasset list 612 in audio library display screen 600 contains listings ofsongs or other audio content that the user selected to identify,purchase, record, or save. Audio asset list 612 may also containlistings of audio content that has been downloaded, transferred, orstored to the user's equipment (e.g., storage 308 of FIG. 3) or one ormore remote storage locations. In addition, listings of audio contentand related information displayed in audio asset list 612 may be storedin audio data store 412 of FIG. 4 and may be processed for display ondisplay 406 or for output to speakers 314 of FIG. 3 by processingcircuitry 404 of FIG. 4.

The listings displayed in audio asset list 612 may contain text, images,video, or any combination thereof. In particular, the listings maycontain information identifying audio assets. This identifyinginformation may include any of the information stored in audio datastore 412, or any other data stores (e.g., data stores 408 and 410). Inaddition, the identifying information may be retrieved remotely, or maybe extracted from metadata transmitted with, or separately from, a videoor audio program. The identifying information may include, for example,the type, format, title, artist, composer, producer, author,description, genre, category, album, cover art, production dates, orother identifying information associated with the audio asset. Thelistings displayed in audio asset list 612 may also contain informationrelated to a television program, logo, advertiser, advertisement,product, or service with which the audio assets are associated, or anyother suitable information. In cases of audio assets embedded withinvideo, audio assets identified, selected, or purchased while watchingvideo, or audio assets otherwise linked to video content, the listingsdisplayed in audio asset list 612 may contain information related to theassociated video content. Information related to associated video mayinclude information such as the video type, format, genre, category,title, episode, series, channel, description, broadcast date and time,relative timing of the audio within the video, sponsor, etc. Forexample, listing 614 may provide title information of a stored song(e.g., “Simpsons Theme”), and title information of the televisionprogram within which the song was embedded (e.g., The Simpsons). Listing614 may have been added, for example, during the broadcast of an episodeof The Simpsons, in response to a user request for the song to beidentified, purchased, recorded, or saved.

The listings displayed in audio asset list 612 may also containinformation related to the context and conditions under which the audioassets were identified, purchased, stored, selected, provided, orotherwise added to the audio library. For example, a timestamp may bedisplayed indicating the date and time of a user request that caused anaudio asset to be identified, purchased, stored, selected, provided, orotherwise added to the audio, library. As another example, inembodiments in which multiple users may access the media guidanceapplication, an indication of the identity of the user that caused anaudio asset to be added to the audio library may be provided. As yetanother example, a listing may display information indicating whetherthe corresponding audio asset was added by a user, by the media guidanceapplication, or by another entity. Instead of, or in addition to, text,images, or Video data, any or all of the aforementioned information maybe represented within a listing using any suitable display method, suchas highlighting, shading, flashing, etc. For example, listings ofautomatically added audio assets may have a background color differentthan those of user added audio assets. The information displayed in thelistings of audio asset list 612, and the display properties of thelistings, may be configured by the user using the media guidanceapplication.

The media guidance application may automatically add, delete, or modifythe listings in audio asset list 612. For example, a sponsor, the mediaguidance application provider, a broadcaster, or another suitable entitymay provide free audio assets or may reward a user with audio assets.This audio content may be automatically added to the audio library, orthe user may be prompted to accept or reject the audio content. Asanother example, the media guidance application may determine audioassets related to other audio assets in the user's audio library and mayprovide listings of recommended audio assets, or clips of recommendedaudio assets, within audio asset list 612. In some embodiments, audioassets or audio clips are available for only a certain period of time,and the media guidance application may remove listings corresponding toexpired audio content. Similarly, listings associated with audio assetsno longer accessible (e.g., audio assets stored in an inaccessiblestorage device) may be removed, automatically, or upon user request,from audio asset list 612. In, addition, in response to user input, orin response to information received by the media guidance applicationfrom a remote server or database, the contents of the listings of audioasset list 612 may be updated. For example, the user may edit the textdisplayed in a listing to add, delete, or modify the displayedinformation. Modifications made to the listings of audio asset list 612may be stored in an appropriate data store (e.g., audio data store 412of FIG. 4) or provided to a remote server (e.g. data collection server517 of FIG. 5).

The listings of audio asset list 612 may be browsed, highlighted,selected, or otherwise engaged by a user using a user input device. Forexample a user may move a highlight region or cursor over a listing toactivate the listing. In some embodiments, the media, guidanceapplication is responsive to a cursor or highlight region placed over alisting of audio asset list 612. For example, the media guidanceapplication may update advertisements 616 and 618 based on the locationof the cursor or highlight region (e.g., the advertisements may berelated to the audio asset associated with the listing currentlyhighlighted). The media guidance application may also perform additionalfunctions upon selection of a highlighted or otherwise engaged listing.For example, selecting a listing may cause the media guidanceapplication to display additional information related to the audio assetassociated with the selected listing. A user may use navigation buttonsof a remote control or other user input device to control the locationof the highlight region or cursor. In addition, specialized orprogrammed buttons may be used to trigger various functions related tothe listings of audio asset list 612. For example, a “Play” button mayplay the audio asset associated with a highlighted or engaged listingwhile an “Enter” button may retrieve additional information, such aspurchasing information.

The user may use any type of input device to navigate among the listingsof audio asset list 612. A user may navigate above or below thedisplayed listings to display additional listings, if available. Inaddition, a user may navigate to advertisements 616 and 618 tohighlight, engage, activate, select, or otherwise interact with theadvertisements. For example, a user may highlight or engage anadvertisement and, using a button on the user input device or byselecting a displayed option, may request a new advertisement to bedisplayed. This feature may be advantageous, for example, whenadvertisements 616 or 618 display audio asset recommendations to theuser (e.g., based on the last listing highlighted or activated, or basedon a determination of the user's tastes or preferences). In this case, auser may request a different advertisement in order to see additionalrecommendations. In some embodiments, the advertisements displayed inaudio library display screen 600 automatically changes periodically toshow, for example, different audio asset recommendations to a user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application plays an audio assetcorresponding to a listing of audio asset list 612 in response to a userselection of or interaction with, the listing. For example, the mediaguidance application may play a sample or a clip of the audio assetassociated with a listing when the listing is highlighted or activated.In other embodiments, a user can select a listing of audio asset list612 to retrieve additional information or options related to thecorresponding audio asset. Additional information, displayed in responseto a user selection may include any of the information that may bedisplayed within a listing. For example, due to display constraints, alisting may only have room to display audio asset title information;selection of the listing may allow the user to view or edit additionalinformation such as artist name, album title, and associated videoprogram information. The additional information may be provided on aseparate display screen or may be displayed in an overlay over, audiolibrary display screen 600. Options provided in response to a userselection of a listing of audio asset list 612 may include playing(e.g., option 620), deleting (e.g., option 624), purchasing,transferring, or sharing (e.g., option 626) the audio. Options may alsobe provided to allow the user to edit audio asset information, configurethe listing display properties (e.g., background color, text color,shading, etc), access additional information related to the audio asset(e.g., option 622), or search for related audio assets (e.g., sameartist, album, genre, etc.). A user may also be provided with selectableoptions to edit, add, delete (e.g., option 624), sort, rearrange, orotherwise modify the listings of audio asset list 612. In someembodiments, a user is provided with options to send, transfer, or shareaudio content or related information with another user (e.g., option626). In turn, a user may be allowed to accept, reject, forward, store,or share audio content or related information from another user. Theaudio assets or related information may be transmitted between usersthrough communications network 514 of FIG. 5, either directly, inpeer-to-peer fashion, or through a server (e.g., media content source516 or data collection server 517).

As described above, when the information to be displayed in a listing ofaudio asset list 612 cannot be displayed all at once, the listing maydisplay only some of the information. A user may then select the listingto display additional information or to be presented with a selectableoption to display additional information. This additional informationmay be displayed in an overlay over audio library display screen 600, onanother display screen of the media guidance application, or the mediaguidance may access an, external service to display additionalinformation (e.g., an internet browser). In addition, or alternatively,the information within the listing may scroll, as in a marquee, todisplay additional information. Listings with additional informationavailable may be indicated as such via a visually distinguishing displayproperty such as shading, highlight, color, border, etc., or the listingmay contain a textual indication, such as an ellipsis (i.e., “ . . . ”).In some embodiments, a clip of the audio asset, or the full audio asset,associated with a listing is played when a user navigates over,highlights, or selects a listing. The behavior of the media guide inresponse to a, user highlight or selection of a listing may beconfigurable by the user. For example, the user may configure the mediaguidance application to scroll the information in a listing when theuser navigates to the listing using a cursor or highlight, and to playthe audio asset only upon selection of the listing. Although not shownin FIG. 6, the listings of audio asset list 612 may be categorized intodistinct sections or categories, and may be sorted by identifyinginformation (e.g., associated video program, title, artist, album,genre, etc.).

Audio library display screen 600 may include one or more advertisements(e.g., advertisements 616, and 618). The advertisements may be anysuitable size or shape, and may be located anywhere within, or overlaidanywhere on top of, audio library display screen 600. For example, audiolibrary display screen 600 may include advertisements within thelistings of audio, asset list 612 or in an overlay region over aportion. Of audio library display screen 600. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application identifies a suitable advertisement based ona link between the advertisement and a particular display screen. Forexample, the media guide application may search an advertising database(e.g., advertising data store 410 of FIG. 4) for an advertisement with alink to audio library, display screen 600. In addition to theseconcepts, features, functionalities, and parameters describingadvertisements displayed in audio library display screen 600 (e.g.,advertisements 616 and 618), the displayed advertisements mayincorporate any of the concepts, features, functionalities, andparameters described above in connection with advertisement 124 of FIG.1.

Advertisements 616 and 618 may advertise products, services, televisionprograms, or other media which, in some cases, may be related to thelistings displayed in audio asset list 612. Advertisements 616 and 618may also be related to other media or to other advertisements displayedin the media guidance application. The displayed advertisements mayalso, be related to user interaction with the media guidanceapplication, user information stored in a user profile, or user datamonitored and collected by the media guidance application. For example,listing 614 may be “Simpsons Theme” and advertisement 616 may advertiseproducts or services related to The Simpsons, another show owned by FOXBroadcasting Company, other audio assets featured in The Simpsons, orany other suitable audio or video content. As another example,advertisement 616 may be linked to audio library display screen 600 inresponse to a user request for audio asset identification (e.g., a userrequest to identify “Simpsons Theme”). As yet another example,advertisement display region 618 may contain an advertisement forproducts or services related to the advertisement displayed inadvertisement display region 616.

Advertisements 616 and 618 may be selectable and may provide furtherinformation about media content, provide information about a product ora service, enable purchasing of media content, a product, or a service,provide media content related to the advertisement, etc. For example,advertisement 616 may offer audio assets related to listing 614 (e.g., asong featured in The Simpsons). Selecting the advertisement may allowthe user to purchase an advertised audio asset. Selecting or otherwiseinteracting with advertisement 616 may also allow the user to retrieveadditional information about an advertised audio asset or to play anaudio clip or sample of the advertised audio asset. Advertisement 618may in turn be related to advertisement 616 and may, in some instances,advertise an audio asset attributed to the same artist as the audioasset featured in advertisement 616. The examples above illustrate onlysome of the many possible configurations in which the listings displayedin audio asset list 612 and the advertisements displayed in audiolibrary display screen 600 may be related, linked, or responsive to eachother. As another illustrative example, advertisements 616 and 618 maychange in response to user interaction with the listings displayed inaudio asset list 612. For instance, advertisements 616 and 618 maychange or update in response to a user highlight or selection of alisting.

The media guidance application may implement any combination of thefeatures described above in order to select advertisements 616 and 618.For example, the media guidance application may select advertisements616 and 618 based on the currently highlighted listing together with theuser's recent purchase history. As another example, the media guidanceapplication may select advertisement 616 based on the currentlyhighlighted listing and advertisement 618 based on the other, listingsof audio asset list 612. Any information, indicative of media content,products, or services that the user may wish to access or purchase maybe considered by the media guidance application in order to selectappropriate advertisements.

The media guidance application may also receive or retrieve informationfrom a server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5) or other userequipment (e.g., user television equipment 502 of FIG. 5) that may beused to select advertisements 616 and 618. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that a user prefers a certain genreof music, may query data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 for popularsongs within that genre, and may display an advertisement for one ormore of the popular songs. In addition, the media guidance applicationmay search the listings of audio asset list 612 to ensure theadvertisement features a song not already included in the list. Datacollection server 517 of FIG. 5 may identify popular songs based onmonitoring the audio libraries or purchasing habits of multiple users.

While audio library display screen 600 is illustrated as a full screendisplay, it may also be fully or partially overlaid over media contentbeing displayed (e.g., a television program). In some embodiments, audiolibrary display screen 600 is displayed in response to a user request toview audio assets associated with a particular video program. Forexample, with a program listing highlighted (e.g., program listing 108of FIG. 1) or a video program displayed on the display screen, a usermay request to view audio assets associated with the highlighted programlisting or displayed video program, respectively. A user may indicatethis request by pressing a dedicated button on a user input device or byselecting an option displayed on the display screen, for example, in anoverlay over a portion of the displayed video program or media guidanceapplication display screen. In these embodiments, audio library displayscreen 600 may be configured to display only those listings of audioassets that are associated with the particular video program (i.e., thevideo program associated with the highlighted program listing or thedisplayed video program at the time of the user request). In addition,advertisements 616 and 618 may be selected based, at least in part, onthe particular video program. For example, upon receiving a user requestto view audio assets associated with program listing 108 of FIG. 1 (“TheSimpsons”), the media guidance application may display audio librarydisplay screen 600 with only listing 614 (“Simpsons Theme”), and otherSimpsons related audio content, displayed in audio asset list 612.

Audio library display screen 600 may thus be configured to selectivelydisplay listings of audio, assets depending on the context, mode, ormethod in which the user requests to view audio library display screen600. As further examples, a user may select to view audio assetsassociated with any type of video program, such as a movie or an episodeof a television program, or audio assets associated with a group ofvideo program, such as all movies recorded on the user's DVR or acomplete television series, and the media guidance application maytailor audio library display screen 600 to display only those listingsof audio assets that are associated with the video program or videoprograms of interest.

Referring now to FIG. 7, illustrative overlay region 710 with an optionto identify audio assets embedded within a video program is provided inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Although overlayregion 710 is displayed over a portion of illustrative program listingsdisplay screen 700, it should be understood that overlay region 710 maybe displayed in connection with, and over a portion of, any mediaguidance display screen with, a listing associated with a video programor a plurality of video programs. In addition, overlay region 710 may bedisplayed in connection with, and over a portion of, a video programdisplayed on, the display screen (i.e., display 312 of FIG. 3). Overlayregion 710 may be displayed automatically, in response to a user pressof a dedicated button on user input device, or in response to a userselection of a displayed selectable option (e.g., selectable option728). Illustrative program listings display screen 700 may be an,instance of illustrative grid program listings display screen 100 ofFIG. 1.

Overlay region 710 provides the user with option 712 to identify audioassets embedded within a video program. In some embodiments, selectingoption 712 with a video program, listing highlighted or activatedconfigures the media guidance application to identify all audio assetswithin the video program. For example, selecting option 712 mayconfigure the media guidance application to identify all songs featuredin video program 702 (“The Simpsons”). In other embodiments, selectingoption 712 displays options allowing the user to configure what type ofaudio assets are identified, how audio assets are identified, or whatactions the media guidance should perform following audio assetidentification. For example, options may be displayed allowing the userto configure the media guidance application to identify only songs,speeches, or other categories of audio content. As another example,options may be displayed allowing the user to configure the mediaguidance application to identify audio assets using metadata, audioanalysis, or both, or another suitable identification method (such asquerying a server for audio asset information). As yet another example,options may be displayed allowing the user to configure the mediaguidance application to save all or some of the audio asset informationfor later review or to automatically purchase, save, or download all orsome of the identified audio assets. Options may also be displayedallowing the user to configure the media guidance application to limitrecording, downloading, or purchasing of audio assets or audio assetinformation depending on pre-selected criteria. For example, a user mayconfigure the media guidance application to automatically purchase ordownload only those songs identified in a video program that meet apre-selected genre, artist, etc.

Audio asset identification may be performed using video programmetadata, other stored data containing audio asset information, audioanalysis, or by querying a server, as will be discussed in greaterdetail below in connection, with FIG. 9. In circumstances in which audioassets or audio asset, information associated with a video program isimmediately available (e.g., audio asset information is stored in thevideo program's metadata or the audio asset was previously identified),the media guidance application may display the audio asset informationto the user immediately in response to the user request for the audioasset information. In cases in which the audio asset information is notimmediately available, the media guidance application may display theinformation as soon as it is retrieved, at the completion of theidentification process, or the audio asset information may be stored forlater retrieval.

In some embodiments, when overlay region 710 appears over a displayedvideo program, option 712 allows the user to identify the audio assetcurrently playing in the video program. This may be advantageous, forexample, in a circumstance in which a user is watching a televisionprogram (or commercial) and wishes to identify a song currently playing.In this, scenario, a user need only press a button or select a displayedoption to identify the audio asset. In other embodiments, when overlayregion 710 appears over a displayed video program, option 712 providesthe same features and functionality as described above in connectionwith program listing 702. For, example, option 712 may allow the user toidentify all of the audio assets embedded in the displayed videoprogram.

Referring now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, illustrative display screens of themedia guidance application, in which a video program 800 is displayedalong with audio asset information 806, are provided in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIGS. 8A and 8Billustrate the display of audio asset information in response to a userrequest to identify an audio asset embedded within a displayed videoprogram. Although the description of these display screens refers toaudio assets embedded in a video program, it should be understood thatthe concepts, features, and techniques discussed herein may apply toaudio assets embedded in any type of media content (e.g., an interactiveadvertisement, an audio program, or a game).

The display screens of FIGS. 8A and 8B include audio information displayregion 802. Display region 802 may be an overlay displayed over videoprogram 800. Display region 802 may be displayed in response to a userrequest or selection, or it may be displayed automatically uponsuccessful fulfillment of an audio asset identification request. Forexample, display region 802 may be displayed in response to a user pressof a dedicated button on a user input device. As another example,display region 802 may be displayed in response to a user request toidentify an audio asset currently playing in video program 800.

Audio information display region 802 may contain album art 804 and audioasset information 806 such as song title, artist, and album. Thisinformation may be retrieved from metadata associated with video program800, local storage (e.g., audio data store 412 of FIG. 4), or from aremote location (e.g., sources 516, 517, or 518 of FIG. 5). Audioinformation display region 802 may also contain a purchase option 808and advertisement 810. The elements displayed in display region 802 maydiffer from those shown depending on the type, or category of the audioasset. For example, album art, song title artist, and album are mostapplicable to an identified song. If, instead, the identified audioasset is a speech, display region 802 may display the speaker's name,the location of the speech, a logo of the sponsoring organization, etc.Similarly, purchase option 808 may only be displayed if the identifiedaudio asset is available for purchase. Alternatively, or in addition, anoption may be displayed to download, record, or save the identifiedaudio asset or its associated, audio asset information. Advertisement810 may be related to the identified audio asset or the displayed videoprogram 800. In addition, advertisement 810 may incorporate any of theconcepts, features, functionalities, and parameters described above inconnection with advertisements 616 and 618 of FIG. 6.

The contents of audio information display region 802 may be edited ormodified. For example, the text of audio asset information 806 may beedited by the user and added to the video program's metadata, stored inlocal storage (e.g., audio data store 4412 of FIG. 4), or transmitted toa remote server (e.g., data collecting server 517 of FIG. 5). A user mayedit the contents of display region 802, for example, in order tocorrect the displayed audio asset information. In addition, the contentsof audio information display region 802, or audio information displayregion 802 itself, may be selectable and may allow the user to retrieveadditional information or to purchase, record, or download theidentified audio asset or its associated audio asset information.

As shown in FIG. 8B, audio asset information may be displayed directlyover video program 800. In particular, any of the elements describedabove in connection with audio information display region 802 mayoverlay video program 800. For example, audio asset information 806 maybe displayed directly over video) program 800. In addition, a visualindicator 812 may indicate to the user that the displayed information isaudio asset information. In some embodiments, album art 804 oradvertisement 810 may be displayed instead of, or in addition to visualindicator 812. The visual indicator or the displayed audio assetinformation may be selectable and may allow the user to retrieveadditional information or to purchase, record, or download theidentified audio asset or its associated audio asset information.

Referring now to FIG. 9, illustrative system 900 is shown for processingaudio asset identification requests in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. In particular, system 900 illustrates a number ofdifferent ways in which audio asset information 918 may be provided to auser in response to an audio asset identification request 902. As willbe described in more detail below, the various modules, devices, datastores, and signals of system 900 may be used individually or incombination in order to identify audio signals, provide audio assetinformation, or otherwise perform the functions discussed below.

System 900 may include an audio capture and processing module 906 forrecording, or otherwise capturing, a portion of an audio signal 904.Audio signal 904 may represent an audio signal currently being providedto speakers 314 of FIG. 3, an audio signal, embedded in a video program,an audio signal being input using user input interface 310 of FIG. 3, orany other audio signal provided, indicated, or selected (e.g., by theuser or the media guidance application) for identification. Audio signal904 may be in any format (e.g., a raw waveform or a binary file such asWAV, MP3 etc.), may be analog or digital, may include a single audioasset or multiple audio assets, and may be extracted from a videoprogram an audio program, or any other media content.

Audio capture and processing module 906 may initiate the capture ofaudio signal 904 in response to receiving an audio asset identificationrequest 902. In some embodiments, audio asset identification request 902triggers audio capture and processing module 906 to capture audio signal904. In cases in which multiple audio signals are available, the audiocapture and processing module 906 may be configured to default to aparticular audio signal 904 or to access audio signal 904 from a defaultaudio source. Alternatively, the media guidance application maydetermine which audio signal to provide to module 906. For example, themedia guidance application may determine which audio signal to provideto module 906 based on the current display screen of the media guidanceapplication (e.g., if a video program is being displayed, the audiosignal embedded in the video program may be provided). As anotherexample the media guidance application may determine which audio signalto provide to module 906 based on user interaction with the mediaguidance application (e.g., if a user selects a particular listing inaudio library 612 of FIG. 6, the audio signal associated with thelisting may be provided).

In other embodiments, audio asset identification request 902 includesadditional information associated with the request, which may beprovided to processing module 906 in order to assist in the capture andprocessing of audio signal 904. For example, audio asset identificationrequest 902 may include information on the source of audio signal 904(e.g., which audio source, video program, channel, or audio assetcontains the audio signal), where in the source audio signal 904 islocated (e.g., start time and end time), and what, type of audio signalis being provided (e.g., audio format, audio quality, etc.).

Audio asset identification request 902 may also include information toassist audio capture and processing module 906 and audio signatureproduction module 910 create, respectively, a suitable audio signalsample 908 and audio signature 912. In addition, audio assetidentification request 902 may include information to facilitate theretrieval and storage of records in data stores 950, 952, and 954. Forexample, audio asset identification request 902 may indicate that thedesired audio asset is a song. In response, audio capture and processingmodule 906 may use a sampling technique specifically customized forsongs, or it may employ audio processing techniques that isolate songsfrom other audio content contained within the same audio signal. Audiosignature production module 910 may likewise use a signature productiontechnique particularly suited to producing a unique signature for songs,which may be different than, for instance, an audio signature producedfor dialogue. Finally, an indication that the desired, audio asset is asong may allow a search for a matching, audio signature to be targetedto a particular section of audio database 954 that contains only audiosignatures of songs.

A record of audio asset identification request 902 may be stored in alocal or remote data store, such as user profile data store 952, or maybe sent to a server for further processing, such as data collectionserver 517 of FIG. 5. The record may incorporate any informationincluded in or associated with audio asset identification request 902.In addition, the record may include an indication that the audio assetidentification process was initiated, a timestamp of the request,information about the audio signal provided for processing by module 906(e.g., which audio signal was selected or the source of the audio),information on user interaction with the media guidance application(e.g., how the user initiated the request, what display element the userselected to initiate the request, etc.), information on the state of themedia guidance application (e.g., what the media guidance applicationwas displaying at the time of the request), or any other suitableinformation useful for characterizing audio asset identification request902 or audio signal 904.

Audio capture and processing module 906 may process a portion of audiosignal 904 in order to produce audio signal sample 908. Audio captureand processing module 906 may be located at user equipment or at aremote location. For example, module 906 may be part of processingcircuitry 404 of FIG. 4. Audio capture and, processing module 906 may beconfigured to detect an optimal location within audio signal 904 forcapture or processing. For example, module 906 may detect a portion ofaudio signal 904 that has a low amount of interference (e.g., low signalnoise or a minimal amount, of audio content other than the desiredtype). Module, 906 may also process audio signal 904 to reduce or removedetected interference. In one scenario, for instance, the user mayinitiate an audio asset identification request and may indicate, or itmay be determined, that the desired audio asset is a song. In response,audio capture and processing module 906 may detect a location in audiosignal 904 in which audio signal artifacts associated with songs aremost prominent and those of other types of audio content, such asnarration, are at a minimum. Module 906 may also process audio signal904 to enhance the audio artifacts detected in the audio signal commonlyassociated with songs while reducing those determined to belong to othertypes of audio content. Module 906 may also process audio signal 904 toreduce or removal signal noise, such as jitter.

Audio capture and processing module 906 may be configured to capture apredetermined amount of audio signal 904. For example, module 906 may beconfigured to capture 5 seconds of audio. Alternatively, the amount ofaudio captured may be variable. For example, the amount of, audiocaptured may depend on the type of audio asset desired (e.g., 5 secondsof audio, may be captured for a song identification request while 10seconds may be captured if the desired audio asset is narration).Similarly, the length of audio signal sample 908 may be predetermined orvariable. The amount of audio captured or the length of audio signalsample 908 may also depend on sample control 916, as will be discussedin further detail below. Sample control 916 may increase the length ofaudio signal sample 908, for example, if the audio identificationprocess fails (e.g., no audio assets are identified or multiple audioassets are identified).

Audio signal sample 908 may be extracted or produced from any portion ofaudio signal 904. In addition, audio signal sample 908 may be providedcontinuously or at discrete time intervals. For example, audio captureand processing module 906 may continuously process audio signal 904 toproduce a continuously updated audio signal sample 908. Alternatively,audio capture and processing module 906 may only produce audio signalsample 908 upon request, at certain time intervals, or upon detecting abetter portion of audio signal 904 from which to produce an audio sample(e.g., detecting a portion of audio signal 904 with lower interferencethan previously detected).

Audio signature production module 910 may produce audio signature 912based on audio signal sample 908. Audio signature 912 may be any type ofidentifying digital information generated from an audio sample andrepresentative of an audio asset, such as an acoustic fingerprint. Forexample, an audio signature may be a condensed summary of the audioartifacts present within audio signal sample 908. Audio signature 912may additionally be a digital file, hash, key, waveform, or any othertype of data object.

Audio signature production module 910 may be located at user equipmentor at a remote location. For example, module 910 may be part ofprocessing circuitry 404 of FIG. 4. Audio signature production module910 may process audio signal sample 908 to produce audio signature 912using any suitable technique. For example, audio signature productionmodule 910 may include algorithms or processing circuitry to detect andcalculate any combination of an audio sample's average zero crossingrate, estimated tempo, average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness,prominent tones, and bandwidth.

Audio signature 912 may be produced from any portion of audio signalsample 908. In some embodiments, more than one audio signature 912, isproduced from audio signal sample 908. Audio signature 912 may beprovided continuously or at discrete time intervals. For example, audiosignature production module 910 may continuously process audio signalsample 908 to produce a continuously updated audio signature 912.Alternatively, audio signature production module 910 may produce audiosignature 912 upon request, at certain time intervals, or upon detectingthe availability of a new audio signal sample 908.

With continuing reference, to FIG. 9, audio signature 912 may be used toidentify a known audio asset within a data store, such as audio database954. The identification may be achieved by comparing audio signature 912with a plurality of known or previously created audio signaturesassociated with known audio assets. These known audio signatures may bestored in audio database 954, which may be located at user equipment orat a remote location (e.g., in source 516 or 517). Audio database 954may be searched for known audio signatures that match generated audiosignature 912. The search may cease upon detection of a first matchingknown audio signature. Alternatively, all known audio signatures may besearched to determine all matching known audio signatures. When nomatching known audio signatures are located, a new (e.g., an additionalor updated) audio signature 912 may be used in a repeat search of audiodatabase 954 to find known audio signatures matching the new audiosignature 912. When multiple matching known audio signatures associatedwith different audio assets are located, a new audio signature 912 maybe used in a subsequent search of the multiple matching known audiosignatures to narrow the matching results. New audio signatures may beused in this fashion until only one matching known audio signatureremains. Alternatively, when multiple matching known audio signaturesassociated with different audio assets are located, the initial matchingresults may be discarded and a new audio signature 912 may be used in arepeat search of audio database 954 to find known audio signaturesmatching new audio signature 912.

In some embodiments, audio signature 912 is continuously or periodicallyupdated, as described above, or generated in response to sample controlsignal 916. Sample control signal 916 may be generated, for example,when more or less than one matching known audio signature is located inaudio database 954. Sample control signal 916 may cause audio captureand processing module 906 to produce an updated audio signal sample 908,which may then be provided to audio signature production module 910 toproduce an updated audio signal 912. Alternatively, sample controlsignal 916 may cause audio signature production module 910 to produce anupdated audio signal 912 from the existing audio signal sample 908.There may also be circumstances in which sample control signal 916 isgenerated, and/or another search performed, when only one matching knownaudio signature is located in audio database 954. For example, it may bedetermined that the matching known audio signature is associated with anaudio asset other than the desired audio asset (e.g., based on a userinput that the identified audio asset is not the one sought by theuser). In embodiments in which more than one audio signature 912 isproduced by audio signature production module 910, each audio signaturecan be used individually or in combination to determine matching knownaudio signatures.

Audio database 954 may contain information, or links to information,associated with the known audio signatures. For example, known audioassets, or links to known audio assets, associated with the known audiosignatures may be stored in audio database 954. (Audio data store 412 ofFIG. 4 may be implemented in system 900 as data store 954.) Audiodatabase 954 may also include any of the information stored in audiodata store 412 of FIG. 4. For example, audio database 954 may include,audio identification information such as the audio type, format, title,artist, composer, producer, author description, genre, category, album,cover art, production dates, ratings data, or other identifyinginformation associated with the audio assets corresponding to the knownaudio signatures. Audio database 954 may also contain informationrelated to media content (e.g., a television program), logo, advertiser,advertisement, product, or service with which the audio is associated,or any other suitable associated information. For example, for each knowaudio signature stored in audio database, 954, the database may alsocontain a list of television programs that contain the audio assetassociated with the known audio signature. As another example, for eachknown audio signature stored in audio database 954, the database maycontain information on past or future broadcasts (e.g., times andchannels) of the associated audio asset or of the video programcontaining the audio asset. This information could be used, forinstance, to determine at what time and on which channel a given audioasset will be broadcast next.

Information related to the identification, selection, or purchasing ofaudio assets may also be stored in audio database 954. For example, ifan audio asset was identified, selected, or purchased while watching avideo program or while interacting with the media guidance application,details related to the relevant video program or media guidanceapplication display screen, respectively, may be stored in audiodatabase 954. Information related to the video program may include videotype, format, genre, category, title, episode, series, channel,description, broadcast date and time, relative timing of the audiowithin the video, sponsor, etc. Audio database 954 may also includeinformation related to the context and conditions under which the audiocontent was identified, purchased, stored, selected, provided, orotherwise added to audio database 954. For example, a timestamp may bestored indicating the date and time of a user request to identify,purchase, store, select, provide, or otherwise add an audio asset toaudio database 954. As another example, in embodiments in whichmultiple, users may access the media guidance application, an indicationof the user that added the audio asset to audio database 954 may bestored.

Audio data store 954 may also (or alternatively) store indexes tolocations in other local or remote storage systems where the aboveinformation may be found. Audio data store 954 may be preloaded with allor some of the above information. In addition, audio data store 954 maybe periodically updated with new information, or new information may beretrieved from a remote location upon request, periodically, or when anew audio asset is added or identified. Information may also be providedin metadata transmitted with, or separately from, a video or audioprogram. For example, when audio database 954 is local to userequipment, it may be updated with new audio information when an audioasset is identified, selected, purchased, or otherwise provided to themedia guidance application. This information may be downloaded from aremote data store or may be extracted from information (e.g., metadata)provided along with the audio asset, the audio signal that includes theaudio asset, or the video program containing the audio asset.

Audio database 954, as shown, may represent more than one audio datastore. For example, audio database 954 may represent both an audio datastore at user equipment and an audio data store at a remote location(e.g., data collection server 517 or media guidance data source 518).Information contained in a remote audio database may be transferred to alocal audio database, or vice-versa. Reference to searching or updatingaudio database 954 may refer to searching or updating a local datastore, a remote data store, or both. In some embodiments, any search ofaudio database 945 begins with a search of the local data store andproceeds to the remote data store only if no results are located in thelocal data store. For example, a search of local audio database 954 maybe performed in order to locate a known audio signature that matchesgenerated audio signature 912. If no matching known audio signatures arefound in local audio database 954, a search may be performed on one ormore remote audio databases 954.

Aside from audio signature 912, other information may also be used inthe search for known audio signatures that match generated audiosignature 912. As described above, for example, an indication of thetype of audio asset desired may be used to select a sub-plurality of allknown audio signatures stored, in audio database 954 for inclusion inthe search. Alternatively, an indication of the type of audio assetdesired may be used to eliminate certain matching known audio signaturesafter the search. In some embodiments, information contained in, orassociated with, audio asset identification request 902 is used tofacilitate the search. For example, audio asset identification request902 may indicate the video program containing the desired audio asset.Audio database 954 may then be searched for known audio signaturesmatching generated audio signature 912, wherein the matching known audiosignatures are also determined to be associated with the indicated videoprogram (i.e., data store 954 contains an indication that the audioassets associated with the matching known audio signatures are containedin the indicated video program). Information within program informationdata store 950 may also be used in the search process. For example, uponreceiving audio asset identification request 902, the media guidanceapplication may search program information data store 950 forinformation pertaining to the video program currently being watched.This information may then be used in the search of audio database 954.Such information may include metadata associated with the video program(e.g., closed captioning data) that may be compared to the informationstored in audio database 954. Similarly, information within user profiledata store 950 may be used in the search process. For example, incircumstances in which a number of, known audio signatures matchgenerated audio signature 912, user profile information may be used todetermine the audio asset most likely desired by the user. The user'smost preferred genre, for instance, may be stored in, or determinedfrom, user profile data store 952 (or data store 954 itself) and thisgenre information may be used to determine a likelihood of each matchingknown audio signature corresponding to the desired audio asset. It iscontemplated that any combination of local or remote data stores (e.g.,data stores 950, 952, and 954) may be used in the search for a knownaudio asset.

In some embodiments, the audio, signal sample and audio signatureproduction steps are skipped, and a desired audio asset is determinedwithout the need for audio signature comparison. For example, anindication of the desired audio asset may be contained within videoprogram metadata (streaming or stored in program information data store950) and, in some cases, used directly to search audio database 954.Alternatively, the video program metadata may contain links orreferences to audio assets stored in audio database 954. In otherembodiments, an audio asset may have previously been identified and datacharacterizing the identification request, including the resulting audioasset information 918, may have been stored in audio, database 954. Anew audio asset identification request 902 may then be compared withprevious audio asset identification requests and, if request 902 isdetermined to correspond to one of the previous audio assetidentification requests, audio asset information 918 can be providedwithout requiring another search of the known audio signatures stored inaudio database 954.

Once a known audio signature or known audio asset is determined tocorrespond to the desired audio asset, audio asset information 918 maybe provided. Audio asset information 918 may link to, reference, orcontain any of the information stored in audio database 954. Audio assetinformation 918 may be provided to user equipment 924 for storage ordisplay on display screen 406 of FIG. 4. For example, audio assetinformation 918 may be displayed as audio asset information 806 of FIGS.8A and 8B. Audio asset information 918 may also be stored within any ofthe data stores 950, 952, and 954. For example, audio asset information918 may be added to metadata associated with a video program (e.g., thevideo program containing audio signal 904), which may be stored inprogram information data store 950. As another example, audio assetinformation 918, including an indication of the audio asset's genre, maybe stored in user profile data store 952.

Audio asset information 918 may also be provided to advertisementselection module 920, which may use the audio asset information tochoose an, advertisement or advertisement data 922 for display, forexample, as advertisement 810 of FIG. 8A. Advertisement selection module920 may provide advertisements, for example, that are related to theidentified audio asset, the video program containing audio signal 904,or any other information contained in audio asset information 918.Although audio asset information 918 is shown as a single line,different audio asset information signals may be provided to userequipment 924 and advertisement selection module 920. For example, audioasset information provided to user equipment 924 may contain only songtitle, artist, and album information while advertisement selectionmodule 920 may additionally receive genre, composer, and production dateinformation. Advertisement selection module 920 may also interface withdata stores 950, 952, or 954 to retrieve information useful toadvertisement selection. For example, advertisement selection module 920may use audio asset information 918, and may access user profileinformation 952, to determine another audio asset similar to ordifferent than the audio assets the user has previously purchased oridentified. Advertisement selection module may also perform any of thefunctions described above in connection with choosing advertisements fordisplay in FIG. 6 (e.g., advertisements 616 and 618).

In some embodiments, audio asset information 918 provides information onmultiple audio assets. This may occur, for example, when multiple knownaudio signatures match generated audio signature 912, or when multipleknown audio assets are otherwise identified. The user may then beprovided with an option to select the desired audio asset. For example,the media guidance application may allow the user to play a sample ofeach identified audio asset and to indicate which corresponds to thedesired audio asset. The user's indication may be stored in(local/remote) audio database 954 such that any subsequent search ofaudio database 954 (e.g., by another user) may return only the selectedaudio asset, or may return multiple audio assets with an indication thatthe selected audio asset, is most likely the correct result. In someembodiments, data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 collects multiple userselections and determines which of the multiple audio assets most likelymatch the desired audio asset based on the most prevalent userselections.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application allows a user toedit audio asset information 918. For example, a user may notice anerror or inconsistency in the audio asset information provided. Inaddition, when no audio asset information 918 is provided, the user maybe allowed to add audio asset information. Any of this edited or addedaudio asset information may be stored in data stores 950, 952, or 954 orsent to data collection server 517 of FIG. 5. For example, the edited oradded audio asset information may be added to video program metadata. Asanother example, the edited or added audio asset information may be sentto data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 which may then distribute theinformation to additional users (e.g., upon determining that the editedor added audio asset information is indeed correct).

As, previously mentioned, any of the modules and devices of system 900may be located at or in user equipment (e.g., user equipment 502, 504,or 506 of FIG. 5) or may be located at a remote location, such as withina server (e.g., sources 516, 517, or 518 of FIG. 5). In addition, any ofthe signals of system 900 may be produced locally or remotely andtransferred remotely or locally, respectively. For example, audio assetidentification request 902 may be produced by user equipment and sent toa remote server that retrieves audio signal 904, produces audio signalsample 908 and audio signature 912, retrieves audio information 918 fromaudio database 954, and sends audio information 918 back to therequesting user equipment. As another example, audio assetidentification request 902, audio signal sample 908, and audio signature912 may all be produced by user equipment, and audio signature 912 maybe sent to a remote server that retrieves audio information 918 fromaudio database 954 and sends it back to the user equipment.

User equipment 300 of FIG. 3, 400 of FIG. 4, or 502, 504, or 506 of FIG.5, or any other type of user equipment suitable for displaying audioasset information, such as a music player, may be implemented in system900 as user equipment 924. For simplicity, only one user equipmentdevice is shown, although it should be understood that user equipment924 may represent a number of different user equipment devices, each ofwhich may belong to the same or different users. As described above inconnection with FIG. 5, a user equipment device on which a mediaguidance application is implemented may function as a standalone deviceor may be part of a network of devices.

As part of the audio asset identification process, data collectionserver 517 of FIG. 5 may receive any of the signals produced in system900. For example, data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may receive audioasset identification request 902 or audio asset information 918. Thedata collection server may receive these signals from any number ofusers, for example, through communications network 514 of FIG. 5. Thedata collection server may correlate and analyze the signals todetermine the most requested or identified audio assets. In turn, datacollection server 517 of FIG. 5 may send audio asset information 918corresponding to the most requested or identified audio assets to otherusers for display or storage (e.g., in a local audio database). Inaddition, data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may maintain a list of“popular” audio assets based on the number of requests to identify orpurchase the audio assets. For example, an audio asset may be determinedto be popular when a certain threshold of requests are received. Datacollection server 517 of FIG. 5 may also monitor when users requestthese popular audio assets (e.g., timing), in what context the popularaudio assets are requested (e.g., what video program or display screenthe user is viewing or interacting with), and the types of, usersinitiating the requests (e.g., what common user profile elements—such asmusic taste—the users have in common). Data collection server 517 ofFIG. 5 may use all or some of the above information to proactivelyprovide, or “push,” audio asset information 918 to users. For example,the above information may be used to determine which users shouldreceive the audio asset information (e.g., users with certain userprofile data), when they should receive it (e.g., before, during, orafter a video program), and how they should receive it (e.g., displayedon the display screen, stored in an audio data store, or added to anaudio library). For example, the data collection server may send audioasset information 918 to users viewing a video program containing apopular audio asset, and the audio asset information may be displayed(e.g., in overlay 802 of FIG. 8A) when the popular audio asset startsplaying in the video program (e.g., when the audio asset is output tospeakers 314 of FIG. 3).

It should be understood that each of the embodiments discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 1-9 are merely illustrative, and any othersuitable configuration may be contemplated. For example, referring backto FIG. 4, data stores 408, 410, and 412 may be located remotely fromuser equipment 400, and may be implemented instead in, for example,media guidance data source 518 of FIG. 5. In these embodiments, theadvantages and functions of, the media guidance application describedabove are utilized even when a client-server system is used. That is,audio asset information may be retrieved at a remote location andprovided to the user equipment device from the remote source.

In accordance with the advantages and functions of the media guidanceapplication described above, for example, a user may initiate an audioasset identification request using a personal computer connected to theInternet. A remote server may receive the request through a web site,and may display audio asset information to the user and/or store theaudio asset information in an online user profile. These user profilesmay be part of an online social network, such that users may view and/orshare audio identification requests, retrieved audio asset information,and any other suitable information. Users may also be provided with thecapability to recommend audio assets to other users.

A user may initiate an audio asset identification request using a website to indicate, a video program containing the audio asset. Forexample, the user may specify the time and date when the audio asset wasbroadcast, and the channel or video program containing the audio asset.A server may use this information to retrieve audio asset informationusing any of the processes described in connection with FIG. 9. Forexample, the server may use the time and channel information to identifythe video program containing the audio asset and may sample theprogram's audio signal at the specified time. In some embodiments, theuser can view other audio asset identification requests initiated usingthe web site, for example, by other users. In other embodiments, theuser can view a list of the most requested (i.e., “popular”) audioassets.

It will be appreciated that while the discussion of audio assets hasfocused on songs, the principles of audio asset identification may beapplied to other types of audio content, such as background music,narration, sound effects, dialogue, etc. In addition, while thediscussion of audio assets has focused on audio assets embedded withinvideo programs, the principles of audio asset identification may beapplied to audio assets embedded in other media content or to audioassets not embedded within other media content.

The following flow diagrams serve to illustrate processes involved insome embodiments of the present invention. Where appropriate, theseprocesses may, for example, be implemented completely in the processingcircuitry of a user equipment device (e.g., processing circuitry 404 ofFIG. 4) or may be implemented at least partially in a media guidancesource remote from the user equipment devices (e.g., media guidancesource 518 of FIG. 5).

Referring now to FIG. 10, illustrative flow diagram 1000 is shown forprocessing an audio asset identification request using a media, guidanceapplication in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At step1002, an audio asset identification request (e.g. audio assetidentification request 902 of FIG. 9) is received. A user may initiatean audio asset identification request by selecting a selectable optionprovided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, anicon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button on a remotecontrol or other user input interface or device. For example, a user mayselect option 712 within overlay region 710 of FIG. 7 to initiate anidentification request of an audio asset embedded within a videoprogram. An audio asset identification request may also be initiatedautomatically by the media guidance application. For example, the usermay have previously indicated a desire to identify certain types ofaudio assets (e.g., songs) in a particular video program or group ofvideo programs (e.g., a television series or all viewed programs) andthe media guidance application may automatically initiate audio assetidentification requests accordingly. As another example, the mediaguidance application may continuously monitor video programs beingviewed by a user and initiate audio asset identification requestsperiodically. As yet another example, the media guidance application maycontinuously monitor video programs being viewed by a user, predict whenan audio asset currently playing in a video program may be of interestto the user, and initiate an audio asset identification requestaccordingly.

The media guidance application may utilize signal processing circuitryor specialized algorithms to detect the presence of audio assets orcertain types of audio assets. For example, the media guidanceapplication may utilize signal processing circuitry or specializedalgorithms to continuously sample or process an audio signal, and toanalyze the audio signal for audio or acoustic features particular to agiven type of audio asset (e.g., a song may contain repetitive acousticfeatures, such as a beat). Alternatively, the media guidance applicationmay analyze or search through metadata, associated with a video programto detect or determine the types of audio assets contained within thevideo program. For example, closed captioning data, may indicate thepresence of an audio asset and the type of audio asset (e.g., the closedcaptioning data may include the word “song” or the phrase “musicplaying” or may include a music symbol such as “

” or “

”). As another example, the media guidance application may detect thepresence of lyrics within the metadata. Upon detecting the presence ofan audio asset, or a certain, type of audio asset, using the methodsabove (or any other suitable method) individually or in combination, themedia guidance application may initiate an audio asset identificationrequest.

The media guidance application may predict when an audio asset currentlyplaying in a video program may be of interest to the user based on theuser profile. For example, the user profile may indicate that the userhas a preference for audio assets contained in a particular videoprogram or television series. As another example, the user may haveinitiated a number of previous requests to identify other audio assetswhile watching the same video program. As still another example the userprofile may indicate that the user has a preference, for audio assetswith certain types, of audio features (e.g., a specific beat sequence orcentered around a certain frequency range). The media guidanceapplication may also predict when an audio asset currently playing in avideo program may be of interest to the user using any other data storeand using any other suitable method.

At step 1004, the audio asset identification request is stored in theuser profile. As discussed in connection with audio asset identificationrequest 902 of FIG. 9, the audio asset identification request maycontain information ranging from a simple indication that a request wasinitiated, to a timestamp of the request, to detailed information abouthow and when the request was initiated (e.g., which video program ormedia guidance display screen was being viewed or indicated when therequest was initiated). Additional information associated with the audioasset identification request 902 may also be stored. For example, anindication of which user initiated the request. As discussed inconnection with user profile data store 952, the user profile may bestored locally, remotely, or both, and may be part of another datastore. The information stored in the user profile may be monitored oranalyzed to determine, among other things, the user's audio assetpreferences. The information stored in the user profile may also bemonitored or analyzed to provide the user with targeted advertisements.For example, based on the user's determined music tastes, anadvertisement may be displayed for a song of similar, or different,taste. The media guidance, application may also allow the user torequest audio asset recommendations based on the user profile, or othersuitable criteria.

At step 1006, the media guidance application may search metadataassociated with an audio asset or a video program containing the audioasset for audio asset identification data. Audio asset identificationdata may include audio asset characterization information (e.g., title,artist, album, etc.), an identification number, an audio signature orany other uniquely identifying audio asset information. Alternatively,audio asset identification data may include a reference or link to suchinformation (e.g., information stored in audio database 954 of FIG. 9).The metadata may directly contain audio asset identification data, or itmay include a reference or link to audio asset identification data.Alternatively, the metadata may include closed captioning data or lyricsthat may, in turn, include audio asset identification data. Metadata maybe provided along with a video program (separately or embedded in thevideo program), in the video blanking interval of a televisionbroadcast, or using any other suitable technique (e.g., using thenetworks or other means discussed above in connection with FIG. 5). Themetadata may also be received from any suitable source, such as a localor remote data store or server.

At step 1008, the media guidance application may determine whether audioasset identification data has been located in the metadata. If so, theprocess proceeds with step 1010, wherein the media guidance applicationdisplays audio asset information. The audio asset information may be theaudio asset identification information contained within the metadata orlinked to by the metadata. In addition, the audio asset information mayinclude any of the information described above in connection with audioasset information 918 of FIG. 9. For example, in cases in which theaudio asset is a song, the media guidance application may display thesong title, artist, album, and album art (e.g., in overlay 802 of FIG.8A).

If, in step 1008, the media guidance application determines that audioasset identification data has not been located in the metadata, theprocess may proceed to step 1012, wherein the media guidance applicationmay query a server to determine if the audio asset identificationrequest refers to the same audio asset as a previously fulfilled audioasset identification request. For example, the media guidanceapplication may send timestamp and channel information associated withthe request to a server (e.g., data collections server 517 of FIG. 5).The server may use the timestamp and channel information to identify thevideo program and the location of the desired audio asset within thevideo program. The server may then search previously received audioasset identification requests to determine whether any of the previousrequests were associated with the desired audio asset. Thisdetermination could be made, for instance, based on the proximity of theprevious and current requests or based on the timing of the previous andcurrent requests relative to the same video program. If a previous audioasset identification request is found to correspond to the currentrequest, the audio asset identification data associated with theprevious request may be retrieved. This audio asset identification data,may have been associated with the previous request upon fulfillment ofthat request.

At step 1014, the media guidance application may determine whether audioasset identification data associated with a previously fulfilled audioasset identification request has been located. If so, the processproceeds with step 1016, wherein the media guidance application adds theaudio asset identification data to metadata. For example, the audioasset identification data may be added to the metadata of the videoprogram containing the identified audio asset. The metadata may includethe location of the audio asset within the video program. After themetadata has been updated, the process may proceed to step 1010, whereinthe media guidance application, displays audio asset information, asdiscussed above.

If, in step 1014, the media guidance application determines that audioasset identification data has not been located in response to the queryof step 1012, the process may proceed to step 1018, wherein the mediaguidance application may capture and process a portion of the audiosignal targeted by the audio asset identification request to create anaudio signature. For example, step 1018 may be performed by audiocapture and processing module 906 and audio signature production, module910 of FIG. 9. The result of step 1018 may be audio signature 912 ofFIG. 9, which is described in detail above in connection with FIG. 9.

At step 1020, the audio, signature may be compared to a plurality ofknown audio signatures to identify a matching known audio signatureassociated with audio asset identification data. The comparison may beperformed by searching an audio data store containing the known audiosignatures, as described above in connection with FIG. 9 and audiodatabase 954, and as will be described in greater detail below inconnection with FIG. 11. Upon identifying a matching known audiosignature in the audio data store, the media guidance application mayretrieve the associated audio identification information, for example,from the same audio data store. The process may then proceed with step1016, wherein the media guidance application adds the audio assetidentification, data to metadata, as discussed above. After the metadatahas been updated, the process may proceed to step 1010, wherein themedia guidance application displays audio asset information, as furtherdiscussed above.

Referring now to FIG. 11, illustrative flow diagram 1100 is shown forcreating and utilizing an audio signature to search an audio database ofknown audio signatures in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. For example, illustrative flow diagram 1100 may show thedetailed implementation of steps 1018 and 1020 of FIG. 10. At step 1102,the media guidance application may capture and process a portion of theaudio signal targeted, by the audio asset identification request tocreate an audio signature. For example, step 1102 may be performed byaudio capture and processing module 906 and audio signature productionmodule 910 of FIG. 9. The result of step 1102 may be audio signature 912of FIG. 9, which is described in detail above in connection with FIG. 9.

At step 1104, the audio signature may be compared to a plurality ofknown audio signatures to identify a matching known audio signatureassociated with audio asset identification data. The comparison may beperformed by searching an audio database containing the known audiosignatures, as described above in connection with audio database 954 ofFIG. 9. The audio database may be local to user equipment or located ata remote server. A plurality of known audio signatures may be pre-storedin the audio database, downloaded to the audio database at periodic timeintervals, or transferred upon request. In addition, if an audiosignature is generated in step 1102 that does not match any of the knownaudio signatures in the audio database, the generated audio signaturemay be added to the audio database and flagged to indicate missing audioasset identification data. This missing audio asset identification datamay be provided by the requesting user (e.g., in step 1112), by anotheruser (e.g., a system administrator at a remote server), or the systemmay automatically add the missing audio asset identification data at alater time (e.g., by associating the unknown audio signature with aknown audio signature based on, for example, proximity of the audioasset identification requests that led to the generation of the audiosignatures).

The generated audio signature may be compared to the known audiosignatures using any suitable method, e.g., binary comparison, audio orsignal correlation, acoustic feature recognition, etc. For example, twoaudio signatures may match if they contain the same or similar averagezero crossing rate, estimated tempo, average frequency spectrum,spectral flatness, prominent tones, or bandwidth information. More thanone matching known audio signatures may be identified, or no matchingaudio signatures may be identified. In addition, one or more audiosignatures may be generated and used to search the audio database formatching known audio, signatures.

At step 1106, the media guidance application may determine whether thesearch of step 1104 resulted in the identification of matching knownaudio signatures. If no matches were found, the process may proceedwith, step 1108, wherein the media guidance application determines,whether a threshold number of searches have been performed (the mediaguidance application may monitor the identification process and keeptrack of the number of database searches performed). If the thresholdhas been reached, the process may proceed to step 1112, which isdescribed in greater detail below. Otherwise, if the threshold number ofsearches has not been reached, the process may return to step 1102 andanother audio signature may be produced from the same or a differentaudio sample. This new audio signature may be used in another search atstep 1104.

If it is determined in step 1106 that one or more matches wereidentified in step 1104, the process may proceed with step, 1110 whereinthe media guidance application determines whether multiple matched werefound. If so, the process may proceed to step 1114, wherein the mediaguidance application may determine whether a threshold number ofsearches have been performed. This threshold may be the same ordifferent than the threshold of step 1108. If the threshold has beenreached the process may proceed to step 1116, which is described ingreater detail below. Otherwise, if the threshold number of searches hasnot been reached, the process may return to step 1102 and another audiosignature may be produced from the same or a different audio sample.This new audio signature may be used in another search at step 1104.Alternatively, the new audio signature may be used to search only thepreviously identified multiple audio signatures, thus narrowing thematching results.

If the threshold of step 1114 has been reached, the process may proceedto step 1116. At step 1116, the media guidance application may displayaudio asset information associated with each of the multiple matchingknown audio signatures. The user may then be provided with an option toselect the audio asset information associated with the desired audioasset. For example, the media guidance application may allow the user toplay a sample of each identified audio asset and to indicate whichcorresponds to the desired audio asset.

If the media guidance application determines, in step 1110, that onlyone match was found as a result of the search of step 1104, the processmay continue with step 1112. Step 1112 may also follow step 1116, and itmay follow step 1108 if it is determined that the processing thresholdin that step was reached. At step 1112, the media guidance applicationmay allow a user to edit audio asset information associated with thematching known audio signature of step 1110 or the selected known audiosignature of step 1116. The media guidance application may also allow auser to specify audio asset information for an audio signature that wasnot matched (e.g., when step 1112 is reached from step 1108). Any of theabove mentioned selected, edited, or added audio asset information maybe stored in the audio database or sent to a server (e.g., datacollection server 517 of FIG. 5). The process may then continue withstep 1016 of FIG. 10, wherein the audio asset information may be addedto metadata associated with a media program containing the audio asset.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram 1200 for identifying and providing audioasset information according to an embodiment of the invention. First,the media guidance application receives and stores an audio assetidentification request, as described above (Step 1202). Next, the mediaguidance application determines whether any previously received audioasset identification requests were directed to the same audio asset asthe audio asset identification request received in step 1202 (Step1204). If so, the audio asset information associated with suchpreviously received audio asset identification requests is provided tothe user (Step 1212). Previously received audio asset identificationrequests may be recorded at user equipment and/or at a remote server.Data collection server 517 of FIG. 5, for example, may record all audioasset identification requests transmitted by user equipment 502, 504, or506 over communications network 514.

The media guidance application may determine that two audio assetidentification requests are directed to the same desired audio assetusing any suitable method. For example, the timing of the audio assetidentification requests may be compared and, if received atapproximately the same time, or within a certain time interval, may beassumed to refer to the same audio asset. Alternatively, the audio assetidentification requests, may be determined to refer to the same audioasset if the timing of the requests relative to the start of a videoprogram is the same or in close proximity. For example, a first userwatching a television program may initiate an audio asset identificationrequest 488 seconds into the program. Using any of the methods mentionedabove, audio asset information associated with the desired audio assetis retrieved and provided to the user. A second (or the same) userwatching the same television program (at the same time or in the future)may initiate an audio asset identification request 490 seconds into theprogram. The media guidance application may determine, based on thesimilar timing of the requests, that the two audio asset identificationrequests are directed to the same desired audio asset. Accordingly, thesecond user may be provided with the audio asset information retrievedand, provided to the first user. Two, audio asset identificationrequests may also be determined to refer to the same audio asset basedon audio analysis, metadata, or another suitable means for detectingthat the same audio asset is playing when both requests are initiated.

If the media guidance application determines, at step 1204, that theaudio asset identification request received at step 1202 does not alignwith a previously received request, then the media guidance applicationproceeds with creating an audio signature from an audio sample, asdiscussed in connection with steps 1018 and 1102 of FIGS. 10 and 11,respectively (Step 1206). Step 1206 may be performed immediately, oronly after other methods of fulfilling the audio asset identificationrequest are exhausted. For example, the media guidance application mayfirst attempt to identify the desired audio asset using metadata.

The media guidance application then searches an audio database, or anyother data store, for audio asset identification data, as describedabove in connection with audio database 954 of FIG. 9 and step 1104 ofFIG. 11 (Step 1208). Next, audio asset identification data is added tovideo program metadata, as discussed in connection with step 1016 ofFIG. 10 (Step 1210). Then, audio asset information and/or associatedadvertisements can be provided to the user, as described in connectionwith step 1010 of FIG. 10 (Step 1212).

A remote server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5) may beemployed to determine whether a threshold number of audio assetidentification requests directed toward the same audio asset have beenreceived (Step 1214). Each user may only be counted once in this tally,such that the remote server only counts unique audio assetidentification requests. If the threshold has not been met, the processconcludes. Otherwise, when the threshold number of requests for the sameaudio asset has been met or surpassed, an indication of the audioasset's popularity is determined and/or recorded and the processcontinues to the next phase.

At the next phase, audio asset information associated with popular audioassets may be pushed, or provided automatically, to other users (Step1216). For example, a user viewing a video program containing a popularaudio asset may receive audio asset information associated with thepopular audio asset even without initiating an audio assetidentification request. In it contemplated, for example, that a userwatching a video program may be automatically presented with audio assetinformation as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B when a popular audio assetbegins playing. Popular audio assets may be determined for specificgroups of users based on user profile information. For example, audioasset information associated with popular audio assets may beselectively provided to those users determined to likely be interestedin such information. Alternatively, popular audio asset information maybe provided to user equipment where it is stored and made available onlyupon user request. For example, popular audio asset information may beprovided to user equipment in preparation, for an audio assetidentification request, thus obviating the need for a search or audiosignature comparison.

Referring now to FIG. 13, illustrative flow diagram 1300 is shown forprocessing an audio asset identification request in accordance, with an,embodiment of the invention. At step 1302, the media guidanceapplication may receive an audio asset identification request alongwith, or including, a timestamp of the request. At step 1304 the mediaguidance application may retrieve metadata associated with the videoprogram containing the audio asset. The metadata may include, forexample, closed captioning data.

At step 1306, the media guidance application may use the timestamp ofthe audio asset identification request to locate the portion of theaudio signal containing the desired audio asset. The program metadataretrieved in step 1304 may then be used to, assist the media guidanceapplication in determining an optimal audio signal segment, near thelocated portion, from which to produce a sample. For example, closedcaptioning data may indicate when dialogue is present in a videoprogram. If the desired audio asset type is dialogue or narration, themedia guidance application may use the closed captioning data to, ensurea sample is recorded when, dialogue is present. Alternatively, if thedesired audio asset type is a song or music, the media guidanceapplication may use the closed captioning data to ensure a sample isrecorded when dialogue is not present. As another example, if themetadata, contains song lyrics, or closed captioning data indicating theonset and conclusion of music, the media guidance application maydetermine the duration of a song and may sample the audio signalanywhere in that duration. Similarly, the metadata may contain starttime, end time, or play time of an audio asset, which may be used by themedia guidance application to determine the boundaries limiting wherethe audio signal may be sampled.

At step 1308, the media guidance application may also analyze the audiosignal before or after the identified location to determine an optimalsegment of the audio signal from which to produce an audio sample. Anoptimal audio signal segment may be one in which interference orunwanted audio content (such as background noise) is at a minimum.Additionally, an optimal audio signal segment may feature easilydetectable audio and acoustic features.

At step 1310, the media guidance application may produce a sample of theaudio signal. A combination of the timestamp, metadata, and audioanalysis may enable the media guidance application to sample the audiosignal at the most ideal location. The audio sample is then used togenerate an audio signature representative of the desired audio asset.At step 1312, the media guidance application may search an audiodatabase for a known audio signature matching the generated audiosignature, as described in connection with steps 1020, 1104, and 1208 ofFIGS. 10, 11, and 12, respectively.

It should, be understood that the steps of flow diagrams 1000, 1100,1230, and 1300 are merely illustrative. Any of the steps of flowdiagrams 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1300 may be modified, omitted, orrearranged, two or more of the steps may be combined, or any additionalsteps may be added, without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

In various embodiments, in addition to the foregoing embodiments, thefeatures described herein enable and include: (1) generating new audiosignatures based on continual sampling of the audio asset in order tofacilitate the database search, (2) allowing the user to select betweenmultiple matching known audio assets, (3) allowing a user to identifyaudio assets without viewing the video program (e.g., selection of alisting, requesting to identify all songs in a series of programs, andso on), (4) allowing a user to instruct the guidance application toautomatically identify audio assets, and (5) detecting the presence orlocation of audio using audio analysis or metadata.

For example, a media guidance application may be configured to compile alist of audio assets (e.g., songs) associated with a stored videoprogram (or other media program, such as a music program) at userequipment. In some cases, the audio assets are embedded within thestored video program, while, in other cases, the audio assets are storedseparately from the stored video, program. The list of audio assets maybe compiled by identifying the audio assets using any of the techniquesdescribed above. As one illustrative example, the media guidanceapplication may sample each audio asset, create an audio signaturecorresponding to each audio asset, and provide the audio signatures to aremote server (e.g., to a web server accessible via the Internet). Theremote server may then provide audio asset information to the requestinguser equipment by comparing the received audio signatures with adatabase of known audio signatures. The media guidance application may,in turn, store and display the received audio asset information to theuser. The media guidance may add all or a portion of the audio assetinformation to metadata associated with the stored video program. Inaddition, the media guidance application may add metadata indicating thestart time, play time, and/or end time of each audio asset within thestored video program. Furthermore, in response to a user indication toplay audio assets in the stored video program, the media guidanceapplication may be configured to identify and play the audio assets.Identifying and playing audio assets may include identifying the storagelocations of the audio assets or identifying the location of the audioassets within the stored video program (e.g., using the start/play/endtime metadata). The media guidance application may also be configured toallow the user to select one or more audio assets from the list of audioassets, and to play, download, or record the selected audio assets. Inthis way, the media guidance application provides a user with quick andseamless access to a list of audio assets associated with a stored videoprogram at the user equipment, and enables the user, to retrieve theaudio assets as desired.

In one exemplary arrangement, a plurality of user equipment, eachincluding a DVR or like storage component, stores music data separatelyfrom video data by using digital encoding technology. Each userequipment is configured to find and identify music data within storedmedia programs (e.g., television programs) by using a media recognitionmechanism, such as described above. Also, many media programs (e.g.dramas, music programs, television programs, etc.) may have embeddedmusic. Currently, the creation of music metadata requires a huge amountof human resources. Advantageously, media guidance applications runningon user equipment have enough processing power to identify and createmusic data locally and automatically from stored media programs. Themedia guidance applications can use network (e.g., Internet) connectionsto access a remote database of audio and/or other media assets. As aresult, a media guidance application implemented on, for example, userequipment including a DVR or other data storage component, can show amusic list of audio assets associated with each media program and canplay back one or more audio assets from the media programs. In a furtherarrangement, the media guidance application can provide one or moreaudio assets via a music download service and/or CD Rental/Shippingservice.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the present invention may be embodied in a computer programproduct that includes a computer usable and/or readable medium. Forexample, such a computer usable medium may consist of a read only memorydevice, such as a CD-ROM disk or conventional ROM devices, or a randomaccess memory, such as a hard drive device or a computer diskette,having a computer readable program code stored thereon.

In addition to the foregoing, in one approach, a media, guidance systemincludes a data store containing audio asset information associated witha set of known audio assets. The system also includes user equipmentcapable of i) receiving a video program including one or more audioassets, ii) displaying the video program, iii) displaying a userinterface, and iv) receiving a user input using the user interface. Thesystem uses a processor capable of i), receiving a user input includinga request to identify an audio asset playing within the video program,ii) identifying the audio asset by processing data associated with theaudio asset and data within the data store, and iii) providing audioasset information associated with the identified audio asset to the userinterface for display.

In one embodiment, the data store includes a plurality of known audiosignatures, where each known audio signature is associated with a knownaudio asset. The processing may include generating an audio assetsignature, and identifying, the audio asset may include comparing thegenerated audio asset signature with the set or plurality of known audiosignatures in the data store. The system identifies the audio asset byidentifying a match between the generated audio asset signature and oneof the plurality of known audio signatures.

The generation of an audio asset signature may include processing, asample of the audio asset to calculate average zero crossing rate,estimated tempo, average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness,prominent tones, and/or bandwidth. The generation of the audio assetsignature may also include determining an optimal segment of the audioasset to sample. In one embodiment, determining the optimal segment mayinclude determining where interference, from audio data not related tothe audio asset, is minimized. For example, the process of determiningwhen interference is minimized may include analyzing the audio asset foraudio or acoustic features indicative of audio data not related to theaudio asset. As another example, the process of determining wheninterference is minimized may include analyzing metadata associated withthe video program to determine when audio data not related to the audioasset is present.

In another embodiment, the processor generates metadata including atleast a portion of the audio asset information associated with theidentified audio asset. The audio asset information may include an audiotitle, artist, album, album art, genre, type, audio asset location invideo program, play time of audio asset in video program, start time ofaudio asset, end time of audio asset, audio text, lyrics, and/or audioquality.

The identification of the audio asset may include processing metadataassociated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. Themetadata may include song lyrics, closed captioning data, and/or textassociated with the audio asset. In one approach, the processor comparesmetadata associated with the audio asset to the audio asset informationassociated with the set of known audio assets to identify the audioasset.

In certain configurations, the user equipment includes the processorand/or the data store. In other configurations, a media source includesthe processor and/or the data store.

In one approach, the request to identify an audio asset is a firstrequest and the processor is configured to: i) store the audio assetinformation associated with the identified audio asset, ii) receive asecond request to identify the audio asset, iii) compare the first andsecond requests to determine that the first and second requests refer tothe same audio asset, and iv) provide the stored audio asset informationin response to the second request.

In another approach, the processor receives multiple requests toidentify the audio asset, while the processor is configured to: i) storean indication of each request, ii) determine that a threshold number ofrequests has been received, iii) identify a second user viewing thevideo program who has not requested to identify the audio asset, and iv)automatically provide the audio asset information to the second userwhen the audio asset is playing.

In one embodiment, the audio asset information is overlaid ion top ofthe video program. The audio asset information may be selectable and theuser may be presented with an option to purchase the identified audioasset in response to the selection. In a further embodiment, theprocessor is configured to: i) select an advertisement based at least inpart on the audio asset information, and ii) display the advertisementto the user.

The audio asset may include a song, dialogue, narration, sound effect,and/or background music. The processor may be configured to detect thestart time and end time of the audio asset within the video programand/or add metadata to the video program including the start time andthe end time. The processor may also be configured to receive a seconduser request to play all audio assets in the video program and/or playthe audio assets based on the start time and end time metadata.

In another approach, a media guidance system includes a remote datasource that receives audio asset information associated with a set ofknown audio assets. The system also includes a remote data store thatstores the known audio assets and the audio asset information. Thesystem further includes a processor capable of: i) monitoring a userequipment data store, ii) identifying audio asset information stored inthe remote data store that is not stored in the user equipment datastore, and iii) providing the identified audio asset information to theuser equipment data store.

In one embodiment, the identified audio asset information is provided inresponse to a user request to identify an audio asset playing within avideo program. The audio asset information may include an audio assetsignature, title, artist, album, album art, genre, type, audio assetlocation in video program, play time of audio asset in video program,start time of audio asset, end time of audio asset, song lyrics, audiotext, and/or audio quality data.

In another approach, a media guidance system includes a data storecontaining audio asset information associated with a set of known audioassets. The media guidance system also includes a processor capable ofi) receiving a number of requests to identify an audio asset embeddedwithin a video program from a first group of users, ii) storing anindication of the requested audio asset within the data store, and iii)providing audio asset information associated with the requested audioasset to a second group of users.

In one embodiment, the requested audio asset is identified by processingdata associated with the requested audio asset and data within the datastore. The data store may include a set of known audio signatures, whereeach, known audio signature is associated with one of the audio assetsin the set of known audio assets. In addition, each of the requests toidentify an audio asset may include a generated audio asset signature.In turn, identifying the requested audio asset may include comparing thegenerated audio asset signatures to the set of known audio signatures inthe data store to determine a matching known audio signature.

In another embodiment, identifying the requested audio asset may includeprocessing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audioasset information. The data associated with the requested audio assetmay include song lyrics.

Audio asset information may be provided in response to receivingrequests to identify the audio asset embedded within the video programfrom the second group of users. Alternatively, the audio assetinformation may be provided in response to determining that the secondgroup of users have requested to view or record the video program, arecurrently viewing or recording the video program, or have viewed orrecorded the video program in the past. As another alternative, theaudio asset information may be provided in response to determining thatuser profile information associated with each of the second group ofusers matches user profile information associated with each of the firstgroup of users. As still another alternative, the audio assetinformation may be provided in response to determining that the numberof users within, the first group of users matches or exceeds apredetermined threshold number of users for determining popularity.

The audio asset information may include an audio asset signature, title,artist, album, album art, genre, type, audio asset location in videoprogram, play time of audio asset in video program, start time of audioasset, end time of audio asset, song lyrics, audio text, and/or audioquality data. In one embodiment, the media guidance system is capable ofi) generating metadata including at least a portion of the audio assetinformation and ii) associating the metadata with the video program.

In one embodiment, the aforementioned data store is located remotelyfrom user equipment, and the media guidance system is capable of i)monitoring a set of user equipment data stores, ii) identifying audioasset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored inthe set of user equipment data stores, and iii) providing the identifiedaudio asset information to the set of user equipment data stores.

In another embodiment, the media guidance system is capable of i)selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the audio assetinformation associated with the requested audio asset, and ii) providingthe advertisement to the first and/or second sets of users. The audioasset may be or include a song, dialogue, narration, sound effect,and/or background music.

It will be understood that the foregoing is only illustrative of theprinciples of the invention, and that various modifications may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spiritof the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that thepresent invention may be practiced by other than the describedembodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration and not oflimitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims thatfollow.

What is claimed is:
 1. An audio asset information storage systemcomprising: a remote data store configured to store audio assetinformation associated with a known audio asset, wherein the audio assetinformation includes video program information associated with aplurality of video programs each embedding the known audio asset, and aprocessor configured to: i) receive a plurality of requests to identifythe known audio asset, ii) store an indication of each request withinthe data store, iii) provide at least a portion of the audio assetinformation associated with the known audio asset to user equipment, iv)monitor a plurality of user equipment data stores, v) identify audioasset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored inthe plurality of user equipment data stores, and vi) provide theidentified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipmentdata stores.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the audio assetinformation includes at least one of an audio asset signature,identifier, title, artist, album, album art, genre, type, lyrics, andplay time.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the video programinformation includes at least one of a program title, genre, type,episode, series, broadcast schedule, audio asset location, audio assetstart time, audio asset end time, song lyrics, audio text, and audioasset quality.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion ofthe audio asset information is provided in response to determining thatthe user equipment is set to display or record a video program thatembeds the known audio asset.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein at leasta portion of the audio asset information is provided in response todetermining that a user profile at the user equipment includes audiopreference data matching characteristics of the known audio asset,wherein the characteristics are included in the audio asset information.6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the audio assetinformation is provided in response to determining that a user profileat the user equipment includes video preference data matchingcharacteristics of a video program that embeds the known audio asset,wherein the characteristics are included in the video programinformation.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to i) receive a request to view all audio assets associatedwith a selected video program, ii) search the remote data store foraudio assets associated with video program information identifying theselected video program, and iii) provide at least a portion of the audioasset information associated with each of the matching audio assets tothe user equipment.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to i) determine that a threshold number of requeststo identify the known audio asset have been received, and ii) store anindication of the threshold determination within the audio assetinformation associated with the known audio asset.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information isprovided in response to the threshold determination.
 10. A method forproviding audio asset information comprising: storing audio assetinformation associated with a known audio asset in a remote data store,wherein the audio asset information includes video program informationassociated with a plurality of video programs each embedding the knownaudio asset, receiving a plurality of requests to identify the knownaudio asset, storing an indication of each request within the remotedata store, providing at least a portion of the audio asset informationassociated with the known audio asset to user equipment, monitoring aplurality of user equipment data stores, identifying audio assetinformation stored in the remote data store that is not stored in theplurality of user equipment data stores, and providing the identifiedaudio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the audio asset information includesat least one of an audio asset signature, identifier, title, artist,album, album art, genre, type, lyrics, and play time.
 12. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the video program information includes at least one ofa program title, genre, type, episode, series, broadcast schedule, audioasset location, audio asset start time, audio asset end time, songlyrics, audio text, and audio asset quality.
 13. The method of claim 10,wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided inresponse to determining that the user equipment is set to display orrecord a video program that embeds the known audio asset.
 14. The methodof claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset informationis provided in response to determining that a user profile at the userequipment includes audio preference data matching characteristics of theknown audio asset, wherein the characteristics are included in the audioasset information.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein at least aportion of the audio asset information is provided in response todetermining that a user profile at the user equipment includes videopreference data matching characteristics of a video program that embedsthe known audio asset, wherein the characteristics are included in thevideo program information.
 16. The method of claim 10 furthercomprising: receiving a request to view all audio assets associated witha selected video program, searching the remote data store for audioassets associated with video program information identifying theselected video program, and providing at least a portion of the audioasset information associated with each of the matching audio assets tothe user equipment.
 17. The method of claim 10 further comprising:determining that a threshold number of requests to identify the knownaudio asset have been received, and storing an indication of thethreshold determination within the audio asset information associatedwith the known audio asset.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein at leasta portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to thethreshold determination.